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    Home » Recipes » Cookies

    Lofthouse Cookies

    Published: November 29, 2018 · Updated: October 30, 2020 · By: Krissy · 14 Comments
    This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Lofthouse Cookies are a super soft sour cream sugar cookie topped with a super sweet and thick frosting.

    You'll see these at the grocery store bakery section all the time, especially during holidays, but they're incredibly easy to make at home. These homemade Lofthouse Cookies are a ton of fun to decorate too!

    stack of frosted Lofthouse Cookies for Christmas

    What are Lofthouse Cookies?

    I bet you've seen these in the grocery store a million times, but perhaps you didn't know they were called Lofthouse cookies. I didn't. Am I the only one?

    Lofthouse Cookies are a brand. They started selling their cookies in grocery stores back in the mid-90s and you'll often find them in the bakery section decorating for whatever holiday or season is approaching.

    The original Lofthouse Cookie was created from a family recipe that had been passed down from one generation to the next. I think the homemade version of the recipe I share here is amazing. Homemade is always best!

    Lofthouse cookies are known for their super soft texture. The sour cream helps make them super soft. This is different from a traditional sugar cookie recipe that is more firm.

    Christmas decorated Lofthouse Cookies

    Why this recipe works:

    Lofthouse Cookies are perhaps my favorite kind of cookie to make during the holidays.

    • Super soft: Unlike traditional sugar cookies that can be firm or crisp, Lofthouse Cookies are similar in taste to a sugar cookie, but they have an incredibly soft texture.
    • Easy to make: Unlike roll and cut sugar cookies, Lofthouse sugar cookie dough does not have to be refrigerated nor does it need to be rolled and cut. That makes baking them super easy!
    • That frosting! The frosting in this recipe is a basic American buttercream and can easily be flavored or colored however you wish. It is thick, yet easy to spread, and ridiculously sweet.
    • Great for all occasions: I always make Lofthouse cookies during Christmas, but you can decorate them for any occasion including different holidays, birthdays, or special team colors. Plus, they don't take any special skill to decorate since the frosting is simply spread on top of the cookie.

    Lofthouse cookie ingredients:

    Exact quantities are listed in the recipe card below, but here is a summary.

    • Wet ingredients: butter, sour cream, egg, vanilla, almond extract
    • Dry ingredients: Sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt
    Lofthouse Cookie ingredients

    Frosting ingredients:

    • Butter
    • Vanilla - I make my own homemade vanilla extract
    • Almond extract - or you can substitute with other extracts like peppermint
    • Confectioners' sugar - otherwise known as powdered or icing sugar
    • Milk - use to thin the frosting
    • Food coloring and/or sprinkles - if decorating
    sugar cookie frosting ingredients

    How to make homemade Lofthouse cookies:

    Full step by step instructions are listed in the recipe card below, but here is a summary with step-by-step photos.

    Make the cookie dough:

    1. Cream butter and sugar: For best results, use soft butter. You can't overmix at this step, so be sure to mix them until they are light and fluffy.
    2. Add wet ingredients: Stir in sour cream, vanilla, and egg. Mix well.
    3. Add dry ingredients: Sift dry ingredients and mix into the wet ingredients.
    4. Simply mix all the cookie ingredients in your mixer and roll into balls. You'll bake your Lofthouse cookies for only about 7 minutes and they will not be brown when you take them out of the oven. Trust the process.
    5. The frosting is a traditional butter frosting made with powdered sugar, extracts for flavoring, and some milk to thin it to your desired thickness.
    6. Once your cookies have fully cooled, simply spread on the frosting with a knife and cover with sprinkles. Fun and delicious!
    • creamed butter and sugar
      cream butter and sugar
    • sour cream and egg for cookie batter
      add wet ingredients
    • cookie batter
      stir to combine
    • sifting flour
      sift dry ingredients
    • making cookie dough with sifted flour
      combine with wet
    • beaten cookie dough
      mix well

    Bake the cookies:

    1. Roll the dough: Use a cookie scoop to portion out pieces of dough and roll into a ball using hands. To create cookies that are all the same size, weigh the dough.
    2. Flatten: Use a mini roller or the bottom of a glass to flatten the cookies.
    3. Bake: Set the Lofthouse cookies in a preheated oven and bake for seven minutes.
    • lofthouse sugar cookie dough
      roll dough
    • rolling Lofthouse Cookie dough
      flatten
    • flattening sugar cookie dough
      repeat
    • baked Lofthouse Cookies
      bake

    Lofthouse cookie frosting:

    1. Cream butter: Beat the softened butter with the extracts until light and fluffy.
    2. Add sugar: Mix in the powdered sugar by adding small amounts at a time and beating until light and fluffy.
    3. Thin with milk: If frosting is too thick to spread, add small amounts of milk and mix well until desired thickness is achieved.
    • butter and vanilla in glass bowl
      combine butter with extracts
    • creamed butter and vanilla
      beat until fluffy
    • adding confectioners' sugar to butter
      add powdered sugar
    • powdered sugar and butter for frosting recipe
      incorporate
    • butter and vanilla for frosting
      mix well
    • whipped sugar cookie frosting
      thin with milk

    How to decorate Lofthouse cookies:

    1. Allow to cool: Ensure cookies have fully cooled before you attempt to decorate them.
    2. Decorate: Spread the desired amount of frosting on top of each cookie. Top with sprinkles.
    • soft Lofthouse Cookies on cooling rack
      allow to fully cool
    • spreading frosting onto soft sugar cookie
      spread frosting on top
    • decorating a homemade Lofthouse Cookie
      add sprinkles
    • frosted Lofthouse Cookies
      enjoy!

    Lofthouse cookies for any occasion:

    See how easy they are to customize for any occasion? Simply change the color of the frosting or the type of sprinkles and enjoy them any time of year.

    • birthday Lofthouse Cookie
      birthday
    • Halloween Lofthouse Cookie
      Halloween
    • 4th of July Lofthouse Cookie
      4th of July

    Recipe tips for best results:

    • Storage: Like most homemade cookies, they taste best in the first day or two. These homemade Lofthouse cookies will last 3-5 days if kept in an airtight container. If you are making them ahead of time and want them to last longer, just store that airtight container in the freezer.
    • Extract variations: Almond extract gives these cookies that signature taste, and I prefer to add a bit to the frosting as well. You can absolutely omit the almond extract and replace it with peppermint, lemon, hazelnut, etc.
    • Baking time: As with any cookie recipe, baking times may vary based on ovens, temperature of dough, size of cookies, etc.. To keep these cookies super soft, you must be sure to take them out when they're set but not browned around the edges.
    Frosted homemade Lofthouse Cookies

    If you’ve made this or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out. I love hearing from my readers!

    You can also follow along on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes to satisfy any foodie craving!

    soft Lofthouse Cookies

    Lofthouse Cookies Recipe

    Lofthouse Cookies are a super soft sour cream sugar cookie recipe topped with homemade frosting. 
    5 from 6 votes
    Print Pin Rate SaveSaved!
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 7 minutes
    Total Time: 37 minutes
    Hover to scale: 24 cookies
    Chef: Krissy Allori

    Ingredients

    Cookies:

    • ½ cup unsalted butter (softened)
    • ¾ cup granulated sugar
    • ½ cup sour cream
    • 1 egg
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • ¼ teaspoon almond extract
    • 3 cups all purpose flour
    • ¾ teaspoons baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • ¼ teaspoon salt 

    Frosting:

    • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional but recommended; can also substitute with alternate extracts like peppermint)
    • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
    • 2 tablespoons milk (for thinning)
    • food coloring and/or sprinkles (optional; used for decorating)

    Instructions

    To make the cookies:

    • Prep: Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Set aside.
    • Cream butter and sugar: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and light in color.
      creamed butter and sugar
    • Mix wet ingredients: Add in the sour cream, eggs, vanilla extract, and additional flavored extract, if using. Mix until just combined.
      sour cream and egg for cookie batter
    • Sift and add dry ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in three additions—mixing well after each.
      making cookie dough with sifted flour
    • Roll cookies: Roll dough into 2″ balls and place 2″ apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Use a roller (a mini roller works great) to roll cookies flat (about ¼ to ½ inch thick).
      rolling Lofthouse Cookie dough
    • Bake: Bake cookies in preheated oven for 7 minutes. They will not be brown when done. Remove from oven and transfer from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Allow cookies to fully cool before frosting.
      baked Lofthouse Cookies

    To make the frosting:

    • Cream butter: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, cream together the butter, vanilla, and extract (if using) until smooth.
      creamed butter and vanilla
    • Add sugar: Add in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition. Add in the milk and food color, if using, and beat until fluffy and smooth.
      whipped sugar cookie frosting
    • Decorate: Spread onto cooled cookies and immediately sprinkle on sprinkles.
      spreading frosting onto soft sugar cookie

    Notes

    Recipe adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

    NUTRITION INFORMATION

    Calories: 202kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 55mg | Potassium: 40mg | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 275IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.8mg
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    This recipe was originally published in November 2018 and has been updated with helpful information, ingredient and process photos, as well as recipe tips. Don't worry - the recipe hasn't changed!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Pegster

      February 19, 2021 at 1:41 pm

      5 stars
      These were great! Perfect for my son with braces. Next time we’ll probably cut the frosting in half because we had a lot left over even after slathering them with frosting. Thanks so much!

      Reply
    2. Vicky

      May 25, 2020 at 1:08 pm

      I only made 8 but did the full recipes of 24. So can I refrigerate the rest of the cookie dough overnight?

      Reply
      • Krissy

        May 29, 2020 at 7:12 am

        yep!

        Reply
    3. Serena

      April 30, 2020 at 12:05 pm

      How/when do you freeze the cookies? Before or after baking and icing?

      Reply
    4. Belinda

      January 19, 2020 at 11:30 am

      My dough was super dry. All the flour didn’t mix in. Is that how it’s supposed to be?

      Reply
      • Krissy

        January 20, 2020 at 10:06 am

        Hmmmm. No, that didn't happen for me. Not sure what may have happened...

        Reply
    5. D

      December 13, 2019 at 3:15 pm

      What does 1/2 cup plus a cube of butter equal? How big is a cube exactly? 1 tablespoon?

      Reply
      • Krissy

        December 19, 2019 at 10:51 am

        My apologies! When I transferred the recipes over to a new software, this one didn't translate properly (I'm editing now). Should be 1/2 cup butter. I put "one cube" in for reference but that's confusing so I'm removing it.

        Reply
    6. Kate

      August 21, 2019 at 5:56 pm

      Oh I love these cookies and your recipe looks just like them! Saving this for Christmas time!

      Reply
    7. Michelle

      August 21, 2019 at 5:16 pm

      5 stars
      I can't wait t try these! That frosting looks so SO good!

      Reply
    8. Kristine

      August 21, 2019 at 4:54 pm

      5 stars
      I'm all about a good Lofthouse style cookie! These are delicious and fluffy, and I literally cannot wait to make them again!

      Reply
    9. Lisa Huff

      August 21, 2019 at 4:19 pm

      5 stars
      Loving how thick and soft these look! Saving this one for Christmas!

      Reply
    10. Angela

      August 21, 2019 at 4:01 pm

      5 stars
      These are my absolute favorite cookies ever! They are incredibly soft and so addicting! Thanks for sharing 🙂

      Reply
    11. Emily

      November 30, 2018 at 6:25 am

      I always heard of these as big soft cookies. But Lofthouse is a much more intriguing name! I have added these to my mental list of things to bake before the end of the year.

      Reply

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