Lofthouse Sugar Cookies

24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Cooling Time 2 hours
Total Time 20 minutes

Lofthouse Sugar Cookies are soft and tender, topped with a sweet frosting just like the ones you love at the grocery store!

You may already be loving our Rolled Sugar Cookies topped with Sugar Cookie Frosting but these sugar cookies take it to the next level with how soft and tender they are!

Lofthouse Sugar Cookies with white frosting and colorful sprinkles on plate

Lofthouse Cookies are those frosted sugar cookies at the grocery store that come in all different holiday sprinkle combinations (popular options are Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas, Halloween, and July 4th – depending on the color of sprinkles you choose). These are the classic American grocery store cookie favorites second only probably to Oreo Cookies.

You know these cake-like soft sugar cookies, when you take a bite they completely melt in your mouth? Once you try this recipe they just might become your favorite cookie ever (even more than these Jaques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies which take 3 days to make).

So what is the secret to a lofthouse style cookie? Cornstarch, sour cream, lots of chilling time and creaming the butter and sugar together until it is SUPER fluffy before just barely adding in the dry ingredients. So do not substitute ingredients in this cookie recipe. Most sugar cookie recipes are pretty standard, but this one requires a very specific flavor and texture, so the first time you make it be sure to follow the directions well.

Lofthouse Sugar Cookies Collage

Tips for Making Lofthouse Sugar Cookies:

  • Be sure you chill this dough for at least two hours since you’re using room temperature butter.
  • Cover your cookie dough well in plastic wrap to avoid it drying out.
  • Your cookie dough needs structure or it will melt in the oven, so make sure your dough is well chilled.
  • Cool baked cookies on a wire rack completely before frosting with buttercream frosting.
  • Use a silicone mat or parchment paper on your cookie sheet to protect the bottom of the cookies from browning too much.
  • Use the bottom of a glass to flatten your cookies, dip it in powdered sugar to keep the dough from sticking to it instead of using a rolling pin or cookie cutters.
  • When adding in your food coloring, keep the mixer going and add in one drop at a time 5 seconds apart until you get to the color you like.
  • Sour cream is not an ingredient you can skip in this recipe, do not use light or non-fat versions.
  • If you choose to skip using a stand mixer use a hand mixer and be sure you cream the butter and sugar together very well on medium-high speed.
Lofthouse Sugar Cookies Collage

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make frosting for Lofthouse Cookies?

The closest frosting copycat will have you use heavy cream instead of the water called for in this recipe. If you are serving the cookies immediately after baking go ahead and use heavy cream in place of water, but if you are frosting these then leaving them out at room temperature use water to make these cookies shelf stable.

How do I measure flour correctly?

When measuring flour for making this sugar cookie recipe do not put your measuring cup directly into your flour container. This is not an accurate way to measure flour as the scooping packs in more flour than you need and if you add too much flour to this recipe the cookies will be much tougher than you are used to. This is important to note.

To measure flour correctly, use a clean spoon to spoon flour into your measuring cup, then level it off.

Do not use any utensils in measuring ingredients before using them with your flour, this can cause cross contamination in your flour container according to FoodSafety.gov.

More Christmas Cookies

How to Store Lofthouse Sugar Cookies:

  • Serve: If frosted with a non-dairy frosting, Lofthouse Sugar Cookies are safe to serve at room temperature.
  • Store: Store your cookies in a tightly closed container for up to one week. If you find your cookies are going stale faster than that, try including a slice of bread in the container with them to absorb any excess moisture that is making it’s way into the container.
  • Freeze: Freeze Lofthouse Cookies with parchment paper between layers, in an airtight container to prevent freezer burn.
Lofthouse Sugar Cookies with white frosting and colorful sprinkles on plate

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Lofthouse Sugar Cookies

Lofthouse Sugar Cookies are soft and tender, topped with a sweet frosting just like the ones you love at the grocery store!
Yield 24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

Cookie

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup water

Instructions

  • Add the butter and sugar to a stand mixer on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until fluffy then add in the egg, sour cream and vanilla until fully combined.
  • Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and baking soda then add it to the stand mixer until just combined then refrigerate the cookie dough for 2 hours until completely chilled.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and using a tablespoon scoop add the cookie dough to a baking sheet on a silicone mat and press the dough down with a cup that’s been dipped in powdered sugar.
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes then let cool completely.
  • To make frosting add the butter and powdered sugar to your stand mixer on low speed until mostly combined then raise speed to medium and add in water 1 tablespoon at a time until creamy enough to spread.
  • Frost completely cooled cookies and if desired add sprinkles.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 193kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 31mg | Potassium: 26mg | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 280IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Keyword: Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
Lofthouse Sugar Cookies Collage

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Lofthouse Sugar Cookies

Copycat Lofthouse Cookie

Lofthouse Sugar Cookie with Pink Frosting Cross-section
Grocery Store Copycat Lofthouse Sugar Cookies

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Whew! What an epic FAIL for me LoL but they taste fantastic! I followed the recipe to a T but my cookies were flat and the edges got chewy (but good-chewy)! So I couldn’t take them anywhere or share them (darn) or enter them in the county fair but they were delish!

  2. I left the dough chill for 2 hours like stated in the recipe but they turned out kind of flat. I’m wondering what I could have done wrong? I thought maybe I pressed them too flat with the glass so I tried not to do that on the second tray but they still turned out flat, especially at the edges. Maybe I overmixed or not we’ll enough? I was making them with my five year old daughter so could have easily messed something up, mist not sure what.

    1. Did you use fresh leavening agents? It seems like maybe that could be the issue. If you did overmix it could’ve been dense too, but my gut says maybe the baking powder or baking soda weren’t as active as they should’ve been.

  3. Can this cookie dough be frozen thawed in refrigerator then baked? Trying to get a jump on holiday baking.
    Thanks, Landra

  4. I made these w/ a lemon infused frosting and everyone has said these are like bakery cookies!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!

    1. Will they keep their shape of I use a cookie cutter?
      Would love to make some for the kiddos to decorate on Christmas ?

      1. They puff up a bit more but it can still be done. Make sure to not skip the chilling of the dough step. This will help solidify everything before baking. Enjoy!