I love desserts; who doesn’t? Local grocery stores sell their copycat version of Lofthouse Sugar Cookies, which are on display in their bakery sections decorated in various bright colors to reflect the current holiday celebrations. They are super sweet and one should limit the number they eat, but how do they get these cookies so soft? In pursuit of discovering the secret, I wandered over to Pinterest to look over the commonalities between the recipes. A lot called for sour cream, some used cake flour or just all-purpose flour or even a combination of both flours. Since I had an abundance of cake flour on hand for making my Crumb Cake, I chose to follow that route and eliminate the sour cream.
The Cookies:
Cream the room temperature butter with the granulated sugar and the solid form of coconut oil for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Many Lofthouse-style recipes use shortening, but I often replace it with coconut oil (solid form) when it appears in recipes, like in my Sweet Potato Biscuits and Gigi’s Ginger Cookies.
Blend in egg, egg WHITE with extracts until light and fluffy. Sift together the dry ingredients then gradually add to the batter. Blend long enough so no flour is visible, scraping down the sides at least once.. Place the batter in a sealed container and chill for at least 3 hours.
Using a medium cookie scoop, create mounds of cookies. Roll in a bit of cake flour then into your hands to form a ball. Place on parchment-lined rimmed-baking sheet at least 3 inches apart. Flatten to about 1/2″ using a flat-bottomed glass.
Bake for 8 minutes. They will look pale and slightly golden around the edges but that’s typical. Place baking sheet on a cooling rack for 3 minutes, then take the cookies off and place on a rack until completely cooled before frosting. As you can see, the spacing before you bake is important; they do spread.
Frosting:
While the cookies are cooling, sift the confectioners sugar and slowly blend into the room temperature butter. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Beat on HIGH for 2 minutes. Scrap down the sides and add your choice of color. Beat for another 1-2 minutes until color is blended in uniformly.
Frost cooled cookies with a thick layer of frosting. Add sprinkles while frosting is still moist to ensure they will adhere.
These are so soft! It’s between a cookie and a cupcake texture with an amazingly satisfying flavor! ( I just had another one, can you tell? ) You can’t even compare these to what you purchase in your grocery store; these actually have an addicting flavor! Perhaps it’s the vanilla and almond combination.
These Copycat Lofthouse Sugar Cookies can be kept in a sealed container between layers of wax paper once frosting has dried a bit. They may also be refrigerated or even frozen as a treat for another day!
Copycat Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie
- 1 c granulated sugar
- 1/2 c butter(1 stick)-room temperature
- 1/4 c coconut oil (solid) or butter-flavored shortening
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg WHITE
- 2 1/2 t vanilla extract
- 1/2 t almond extract (optional)
- 2 1/2 c cake flour-spooned and leveled into measuring cup
- 1 1/2 t baking powder
- 1/4 t cream of tartar
- 1/4 t salt
Frosting
- 2 1/2 c sifted confectioners sugar
- 1/2 c butter, (1 stick) -room temperature
- 2 T heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 t vanilla
- food coloring
Instructions
Cookie
- Cream granulated sugar with room temperature butter and coconut oil(solid form) on LOW speed.
- Blend in egg, egg WHITE and extracts on MEDIUM speed until light and fluffy.
- Sift cake flour with the baking powder, cream of tartar and salt.
- Gradually add to the wet mixture until well incorporated.
- Place in a sealed container and chill for at least 3 hours.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, create about 36 mounds of dough. Roll them in cake flour then between the palms of your hands into a ball.
- Place them on a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet 3" apart. Flatten to a height of 1/2" using a floured flat-bottomed glass.
- Bake at 375°F for 8 minutes. They will be pale and slightly puffy, but don't bake any longer!
- Put pan on a cooling rack for 3 minutes. Then, remove cookies to cooling rack to completely cool, before frosting.
Frosting
- While cookies are baking, sift the confectioners sugar then blend it into room-temperature butter on LOW speed.
- Add in the heavy cream and extract. Beat on HIGH for 2 minutes, scraping down sides halfway. Add the desired color and continue to beat on HIGH until uniformly blended.
- Frost cookie with a thick layer of frosting and apply desired sprinkles immediately to ensure their adhesion. Allow frosting to set before storing.
- Store in a sealed container between layers of wax or parchment paper. You may store in refrigerator or freeze them for later consumption.
