Learn how to make Lofthouse Cookies in your own kitchen! These pillowy soft sugar cookies are topped with sweet pink frosting and sprinkles for that classic look.
Revisit another childhood favorite cookie with these tips for baking these Toll House Cookies too. Or get a little adventurous with these amazing Monster Sugar Cookies!
Why this Recipe is Best
These cookies will make you feel like a kid again. Some people grew up eating Little Debbie Honey Bun Cake, or hostess cupcakes…while others LOVED these cookies!
This is a copycat Lofthouse cookie recipe that tastes just like the ones you buy at the grocery store!
Unlike other sugar cookies they don’t spread or develop a crispy edge when they bake. Instead, these maintain their perfect round shape and pale color–perfect for loading up with a thick layer of that classic pink icing.
- Soft and cakey cookies that don’t spread!
- No rolling or cutting out dough.
- Perfectly sweet bakery-style frosting.
- Better than store bought Lofthouse cookies.
Knowing I wanted a soft cookie texture, similar to ricotta cookies and cheesecake cookies…I set out testing until they were perfect!
Ingredient Notes
- Cake flour has a lower protein content and lighter color than all purpose flour, making these cookies lighter in color and softer than your average sugar cookie. Find my cake flour substitute recipe and make sure you are measuring your flour correctly!
- Cornstarch works to keep the cookies from spreading and helping them stay soft.
- Baking powder leavens the cookies without making them spread.
- Sour cream keeps the cookies super soft and moist, even days later!
- Almond and vanilla extracts perfectly replicate the flavor and aroma of store bought Lofthouse cookies. For best results I use my homemade vanilla extract. Feel free to skip the almond if you’re not a fan, or add lemon extract for a burst of citrus!
- Unsalted butter is essential for richness and flavor without adding extra saltiness to the cookie dough.
- Pink gel food coloring gives the frosting its color. You can use any color you like, but I love the iconic pink of classic Lofthouse frosting!
How to make Lofthouse Cookies
For the dough:
Beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Then beat in the eggs, extracts and sour cream. Now add the dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX the cookie dough.
Chill:
Cover the dough with plastic wrap (you can leave it right in the mixing bowl) and let it chill for at least one hour.
Shape and bake:
Scoop about three tablespoons of dough out of the bowl. Use your hands to roll the dough into a smooth ball, then place it onto a cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the cookie dough.
Use the bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup to gently flatten each ball of dough. Bake until the edges of the cookies begin to look lightly golden.
Make the Lofthouse Cookies frosting:
Beat the butter until fluffy, then beat in the remaining ingredients. Spread frosting over cooled cookies, then garnish with sprinkles.
Pro Tip: Leave a small rim of each cookie unfrosted to make these look more like the originals!
Tips and Tricks
- Do not overbake. For the soft-baked taste, the cookies only need a few minutes in the oven. If they’re browning, they’ve been in too long!
- Rotate the pan half way through baking. This ensures that none of the cookies accidentally get over or underbaked.
- Dip your hands in powdered sugar before working with the cookie dough. It will keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
- Keep them fresh. Store frosted Lofthouse cookies in an airtight container. They’ll stay soft and delicious for about three days.
- Freeze Cookies. Use my tips on how to freeze cookie dough for later.
Recipe FAQs
No, you cannot skip the chilling step in this recipe. The dough for these cookies is very sticky. Chilling makes is possible for you to roll the dough into even balls. And it firms up the softened butter which helps prevent them spreading in the baking process.
You can but the results will not be the same. Made with all purpose flour, the cookies taste doughier (more like a regular cut-out cookie). They also turn more golden brown as they bake, instead of the pale off white color of classic Lofthouse cookies.
If you don’t have real cake flour, you can make a substitute. Measure out one cup of all-purpose flour. Remove two tablespoons of flour and add two tablespoons of cornstarch.
The results will not be as good as true cake flour but will be better than all-purpose on its own.
Yes, but you should freeze them unfrosted for best results. They’ll stay good in the freezer for about 3 months. Defrost the cookies completely before adding frosting.
More Easy Cookie Recipes
- Cake Mix Cookies
- Chocolate Covered Oreos
- Snickerdoodles
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- No Bake Chocolate Cookies
- Almond Cookies
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Lofthouse Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ cup sour cream room temperature
For the Frosting:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dash of kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons of heavy cream
- 1 drop pink gel food coloring
- ¼ cup jimmies colored sprinkles
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk cake flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until combined. Add in egg, vanilla, and almond extracts.
- Stir in sour cream and mix until well blended.
- Add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides. Do not over mix. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 60 minutes.
- To portion out the dough, scoop about 3 Tablespoons of cookie dough, dust hands with powdered sugar, and roll dough into a ball.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. Flatten cookies with the bottom of a glass or flat measuring cup, dipped in powdered sugar. Cookies should be between ½” and ¼” thick.
- Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes; rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Cookies should be just lightly golden – NOT BROWN. Cookies will continue to bake on the cookie sheet while cooling. Cool completely before adding the frosting.
- For frosting, beat butter for 1-2 minutes, or until it has lightened in color and is creamy.
- Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and heavy cream, a Tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Add food coloring to tint, if desired.
- Frost cookies, leaving a small rim of the cookie exposed. Top with sprinkles or jimmies.
Notes
- If you don’t have a scoop, you can measure the dough out for the first cookie, then roll the other cookies the same size for even baking. Unlike some of the other copycat recipes, this recipe doesn’t require rolling out and cutting out the round shapes. The reason why you roll the cookies into a ball and then flatten them is to help achieve this shape without the use of a cookie cutter.
- You can use a smaller scoop for the cookies. A 2 Tablespoon scoop resulted in 24-26 smaller cookies (2 ¼-2 ½”). Baking time should be 8-10 minutes.
- Rotate the pan half way through baking. This ensures that none of the cookies accidentally get over or underbaked.
- Dip your hands in powdered sugar before working with the cookie dough. It will keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
- Keep them fresh. Store frosted Lofthouse cookies in an airtight container. They’ll stay soft and delicious for about three days.
- Freeze Cookies. Use my tips on how to freeze cookie dough for later.
- Do not overbake. For the soft-baked taste, the cookies only need a few minutes in the oven. If they’re browning, they’ve been in too long!
Nutrition
This is the BEST copycat recipe for Lofthouse Cookies hands down. With no need to roll or cut out the dough, these cookies are easy to make with the perfect cake-like texture and flavor!
Made the cookies filled the recipe and the cookies were tasting like too much flour I sifted my flour.Any advice for me?
Traditional lofthouse cookies are a very cakey/floury cookie.
My family loved these cookies.
If you are using homemade cake flour do you still need the cornstarch in this recipe
Turned out fabulous in my opinion!! Thank you. I would post a picture but don’t see that option.
Can you replace sour cream with plain yogurt?
This is an awesome recipe!! It was my first time baking with cake flour and I love the consistency of these cookies!
I doubled the recipe and used 1/4cup less icing sugar for the icing.
Will be remaking these!
I baked these 12 minutes in a Convection oven at 350 degrees
After cooling and frosting I was excited to share with my daughter who loves lofthouse cookies to my disappointment they were doughy inside the seemed firm and sprung up to touch!
Can you freeze the dough?
Yes you can.
These are always one of my favorite things to get around the holidays. I love that I can make delicious ones at home!
They taste so good!
Lofthouse cookies are my FAVORITE! And these cookies turned out amazing!! We loved them!!
Is the frosting supposed to be clumpy or soft
I love how light and airy these baked up, they were even better than the grocery store version!