These soft, sweet Lofthouse Cookies will take you back to childhood celebrations and simple pleasures. You’ll not only get the irresistible taste and melt-in-your-mouth texture of the store-bought favorites, but also the joy of customizing them to your heart’s content!
Lofthouse Cookies are those super soft, frosted sugar cookies you often see in grocery stores, usually decked out with seasonal sprinkles. Originating from the Lofthouse Foods bakery in Utah, these cookies are a long-time staple for celebrations and holidays. And I’m so happy to tell you that they’re easy to make in your own kitchen with this copycat recipe!
Why You’ll Love This Lofthouse Cookies Recipe
- Soft and fluffy. Super soft sugar cookies plus sweet, creamy frosting. Each bite melts in your mouth!
- Versatile for any occasion. Top these cookies with sprinkles or colored frostings to fit any theme or celebration. Birthdays, holidays, or just because!
- Simple ingredients, big flavor. You’ll just need baking pantry staples to make these delicious, crowd-pleasing cookies.
- Make-ahead friendly. These cookies keep well, making them perfect for gifting, parties, or having a sweet treat on hand whenever the craving hits.
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card below for ingredient quantities and the full recipe. Here are some notes about the ingredients:
- All-purpose flour – Measure by weight or use the spoon and sweep method. Learn more: How to Measure Flour
- Cornstarch – This helps give these cookies their soft texture.
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Confectioners’ sugar – Also know as powdered sugar. You’ll need this for both the cookies and the frosting.
- Unsalted butter – Let the butter sit at room temperature until it’s softened. Learn more: How to Soften Butter
- Egg – Set out the egg along with the butter so it can come to room temperature.
- Sour cream – This also needs to be at room temperature for easier, more thorough mixing.
- Vanilla extract
- Heavy cream – Look for heavy cream or heavy whipping cream.
- Gel food coloring – This is optional to add some color to your frosting. I prefer this type of food coloring because you can use a very small amount to get beautiful colors without adding too much liquid to the frosting.
- Sprinkles – The perfect garnish for these pretty cookies!
How to Make Lofthouse Cookies
Making these soft sugar cookies is straightforward. Just be sure to allot time for chilling the dough before rolling it.
Make the Cookies
- Mix the dry ingredients. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the confectioners’ sugar and butter until crumbly and lightened in color. Mix in the egg, sour cream, and vanilla.
- Finish mixing. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix on low speed just until combined. Use a spatula to stir the dough a few times to finish mixing.
- Chill the dough. Cover and refrigerate the dough for an hour.
- Prepare for baking. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
- Roll and cut the dough. Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface, and roll to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out the dough with a 3-inch round cookie cutter. Gather and re-roll the dough as needed. Place the cookies on the prepared pans.
- Bake. One pan at a time, bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. They should be light in color and appear set.
- Cool. Place the pans on a wire rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies from the pans to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Frosting
- Start mixing. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat at medium speed until lightened in color (3 to 5 minutes). Add the vanilla, salt, and half of the cream, and mix well.
- Finish mixing. Add the confectioners’ sugar gradually. Then add the food coloring, if you’re using it. Finally, mix in the remaining cream. Mix for 5 more minutes, and then use a spatula to press the frosting against the sides of the bowl to remove any air bubbles.
- Frost the cookies. You can spread the frosting on the cooled cookies, or transfer the frosting to a piping bag with a large tip to pipe the frosting onto the cookies. Top with sprinkles.
Tips for Success
Before you make your Lofthouse sugar cookies, read through these tips to help make sure yours turn out perfectly!
- Don’t over-mix. You want to mix the cookie dough just until it’s combined. Too much mixing can lead to tough cookies.
- Chill the dough. That time in the refrigerator will help the cookies keep their shape and have that wonderful soft texture. It also makes the dough easier to roll and handle.
- Even thickness is key. When rolling out the dough, make sure it’s rolled to an even thickness so that the cookies bake evenly and thoroughly. If you have a rolling pin with adjustable rings, it can help you achieve that.
- Don’t over-bake. These cookies don’t brown like other cookies. Look for them to be just set in the center but still light in color. All ovens are different, so keep an eye on your cookies for the last few minutes of the suggested baking time.
- No stand mixer? While a stand mixer does a great job of mixing this frosting, you can use a hand mixer if that’s what you have.
- Frosting technique. When it’s time to decorate the cookies, you can simply spread the frosting on top of the cookies with an offset spatula or knife. If you prefer, however, you can pipe the frosting using a large open or star tip.
Variations
- Drop cookies. If you don’t want to roll out the dough, you can use a cookie scoop to portion the dough, roll into balls, and then flatten into a disc. They won’t be quite as uniform, but they’ll still taste great.
- Lemon twist. Add the zest of a lemon to the dough for a fresh citrus flavor. You can add a small amount of lemon extract to the frosting, too, if you like.
- Almond. Add 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract along with the vanilla for a different flavor profile.
- Color fun. You can easily change the color of the frosting to suit the occasion, or divide the frosting and make a few different colors. Add sprinkles to fit the occasion, too.
How to Store
After the frosting on the cookies has set well (about 3 hours at room temperature), place the cookies in an airtight container. If you’re storing in layers, place parchment paper or wax paper between the layers to help keep your cookies looking their best. They should keep at room temperature up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to a week.
Can These Cookies Be Frozen?
It’s best to freeze the cookies without the frosting, as the frosting can become grainy when thawed. Place the cookies in an airtight, freezer-safe container, and freeze up to 3 months. When you’re ready to serve the cookies, thaw them at room temperature. To prevent condensation, you may want to place the frozen cookies on a wire rack to let them thaw. Then frost and decorate as normal.
If you do need to freeze the frosted cookies, first place them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Freeze until the frosting has hardened, and then wrap each cookie in plastic wrap before placing in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Just keep in mind that the frosting may not be as smooth and pretty after thawing.
More Sugar Cookie Recipes
Lofthouse Cookies
Soft, fluffy textures meet sweet, decadent frosting in these homemade Lofthouse cookies. A simple recipe for creating irresistibly delicious cookies that are sure to please!
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 2 & 1/4 cups (270g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (110g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/4 cup full fat sour cream, room temperature
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream, warm but not hot
- 4 cups (440g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- gel food coloring (optional)
- sprinkles
Instructions
To make the cookies:
- Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat the confectioners’ sugar and butter until light in color and crumbly. Mix in the egg, sour cream, and vanilla until completely incorporated.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix on low speed until just barely combined. Stir a few times with a spatula to finish mixing the dough. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
- Roll the chilled dough out to 1/4-inch thickness on a clean floured surface. Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out 20 cookies. Re-roll as needed until all dough has been cut. Place the cookies on the prepared pans.
- Bake one pan at a time for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies will be light in color.
- Place the pans on a wire rack, and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then transfer the cookies from the pan directly onto a rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on a medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes. The butter will be light in color. Add the vanilla, salt, and half of the cream. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and food coloring (if using), and then add the remaining cream.
- Continue beating the frosting for 5 more minutes. Then, using a spatula, press the frosting around the sides of the bowl to release any air bubbles for the best consistency.
- Spread or pipe the frosting onto the cooled cookies, leaving a small rim of the cookie edge visible. Add sprinkles.
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