Lofthouse cookies recipe: a small batch of the copycat grocery store sugar cookies with colorful frosting and sprinkles. These sugar cookies are so fluffy, soft, and piled with frosting--everyone loves them!
So, COOKIES. Have you had Lofthouse cookies? You totally have. They are the cookies the grocery stores sell in plastic containers by the register with the thick frosting and pretty sprinkles. These sugar cookies are super soft and puffy, and the icing is so sweet it’ll make your teeth hurt. But, the sprinkles make you smile!
So, I scaled them down to make a mere half dozen so we wouldn’t be tempted to binge on 2 dozen cookies in 48 hours. It’s totally happened, and more than once. Six petite fluffy little Lofthouse sugar cookies, all for you.
This Lofthouse cookies recipe reminds me of my Small Batch Sugar Cookies but with some icing and sprinkles. And if you want to try something new and like the taste of a sugar cookie, these Sugar Cookie Bars are perfect.
These cookies are the most requested cookies in my house. I have a daughter who loves sprinkles so much that she thinks everything can be improved upon with sprinkles--pancakes, applesauce, and even mashed potatoes! Honestly, I can hardly make any type of cookie without her bringing up these cookies.
I think it goes without saying that you can adapt the type of sprinkles to fit any upcoming holidays. Santa enjoys these cookies with red and green sprinkles, and we also enjoy them with black and orange sprinkles for Halloween! Rainbow sprinkles are always welcome in our house, too.
Lofthouse Sugar Cookies Ingredients
For the Cookies
- unsalted butter, at room temperature
- granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk (save the egg white for a recipe that uses egg whites)
- heavy cream (or substitute with milk see more in notes)
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
For the Frosting
- unsalted butter, at room temperature
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- heavy cream (or milk)
- sprinkles
How to Make Lofthouse Cookies
-
- Prep- Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with a silicone liner
- Combine - In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter on medium speed with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy for about 45 seconds. Next, add the egg yolk, heavy cream, and vanilla. Beat to combine. Evenly sprinkle the flour, baking powder and salt over the batter and beat until combined.
- Bake - Before baking, press the dough down into the bottom of the bowl and use your hands to lightly score it in half. Place each dough ball in your hands, and roll it into a perfect ball. Place each ball, evenly spaced, on the prepared baking sheet. Press the cookies to flatten them slightly. Bake for 14-15 minutes or until the tops appear dry. Let the cookies cool on a baking sheet for one minute before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Frost - Mix together all of the frosting ingredients (except sprinkles) in a bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Frost the cookies once they have cooled and decorate with sprinkles.
Tips
- If you don't have heavy cream, substitute with whole milk. Milk will make the batter way too soft for the cookies but if you put the dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes the dough will be ready to bake.
- Use silicone liners if you can, it will prevent cookies from spreading too much in the oven.
- It is best to let the cookies cool completely before frosting. This will keep your frosting from melting on the cookie.
- Since this Lofthouse Cookie recipe uses only the egg yolk, be sure to check out my ways to use the leftover egg whites.
How to Store
- Room Temperature - Store the cookies in a sealed container to keep fresh.
- Refrigerate - The cookies can be kept in the refrigerator to keep them longer. Or if you want to make the cookie dough first, you can keep it in the refrigerator overnight before baking the cookies.
- Freeze - The cookies and the dough can be put in the freezer to use at a later time.
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More Easy Cookie Recipes
- Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Red Velvet Sugar Cookies
- Ultimate Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Key Lime Cooler Cookies
Lofthouse Cookies Recipes
A small batch of Lofthouse Sugar cookies--the best frosted sugar cookies in all the lands!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
For the frosting:
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon heavy cream
- sprinkles!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with a silicone liner. (In my experience, silicone liners prevent cookies from spreading too much in the oven).
- Next, make the cookies: In a medium-size bowl, add the butter and beat on medium speed with an electric mixer. Beat for about 10 seconds to break it up.
- Add the sugar to the butter, and beat until fluffy, about 45 seconds.
- Next, add the egg yolk, heavy cream, and vanilla. Beat to combine.
- Evenly sprinkle the flour, baking powder and salt over the batter, and beat until just combined.
- The dough will be a little softer than regular cookies, but you should still be able to work with it. (See note about using milk below).
- Press the dough down into the bottom of the bowl and use your hand to lightly score it in half. From each half of dough, you should get three balls of dough.
- Place each dough ball in your hands, and roll it into a perfect ball. Place each ball, evenly spaced, on the prepared baking sheet.
- Press the cookies to flatten them slightly.
- Bake for 14-15 minutes. The tops will appear dry when they're done.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, mix together all of the frosting ingredients (except the sprinkles) in a bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Frost the cookies once they have cooled, and decorate with sprinkles to serve.
Notes
*Say you want to make these cookies, but you don't have cream. I hear ya. It happens to me all the time. I stirred in whole milk once, and the batter was way too soft to make cookies. BUT, I put the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes, baked them anyway, and they were just fine! The cookies are best with cream, but if all you have is milk, it will still work.
*It's best to bake these cookies on a silicone mat. Not only are they completely non-stick, they help with even heat distribution (which helps cookies bake evenly and not spread too much).
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 371Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 102mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gProtein: 4g
Steph Vega says
Such a fun and easy recipe ! These cookies were a hit with our kids!
Sydney says
Love all of your recipes! Please, more vegan recipes! I’ve made all of your vegan recipes many times each. Thank you for your hard work, keep it coming!
Kelly says
I LOVE your vanilla funfetti cupcakes, I made them for my son’s birthday party, and everyone loved them. We are now baking every Friday during the quarantine and I can’t wait to make these with my 4 year old next week 😁
Steffi says
These are fantastic! I didn't have heavy cream, so I used half and half and after letting the batter sit in the fridge for 15 minutes, it was good to go. Thanks for a great recipe!
Nicole says
Do you have the full version of this recipe? Thanks!
Lori says
I was wondering, do you have a recipe for a buttercream frosted soft pillowy gingerbread cookie like Lofthouse cookies? I've been looking for a recipe for this and haven't found one yet. I watched a video on YouTube on how your original "Lofthouse" cookies turned out & they looked delicious!! I still wonder if the cookies would be more cake-like like Lofthouse if you used cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. Also have seen alot of recipes using sour cream instead of heavy cream. How is the heavy cream better to use than the sour cream? I have seen a recipe for a gingerbread cookie that sounds delicious using not just ginger, but blackstrap molasses, butter & all the fall flavors(all-spice, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg...did I leave any out?). But still, would want the "Lofthouse" cookie to taste more like a gingerbread cookie. If you would have a small batch recipe for a "Lofthouse" gingerbread cookie with buttercream icing, I would love to make it!! If not, could you create a delicious recipe for a gingerbread cookie like this?? Either way, I've been wanting to make some cookies like this. Thank you
Lori says
PLEASE, PLEASE make a Lofthouse style "gingerbread" cookie for two. I've been looking for a Lofthouse style gingerbread cookie and haven't found any and a recipe for two (small batch) would be perfect. I would LOVE to have a recipe for cookies like this. Since Lofthouse cookies aren't refrigerated, I would like to have a cinnamon/cream cheese frosting or cinnamon/egg nog frosting on them but I believe you would have to keep the cookies in the refrigerator with these frostings. I think putting these Lofthouse style cookies in the refrigerator would mess up the soft pillowy-like goodness of the cookies. Any suggestions for an icing like these that wouldn't require refrigeration? Hope to hear something back from you soon. I would love to bake some up soon and try them. Thank you
Christina Lane says
This sounds DELICIOUS. I will work on this :) Thank you!
Lori says
PLEASE, PLEASE make a Lofthouse style "gingerbread" cookie for two. I've been looking for a Lofthouse style gingerbread cookie recipe and haven't found any and a recipe for two (small batch) would be perfect. I would LOVE 😍 to have a recipe for cookies like this. Since Lofthouse cookies aren't refrigerated, I would like to have a cinnamon/cream cheese frosting or cinnamon/egg nog frosting on them but I believe you would have to keep the cookies in the refrigerator with these frostings. I think putting these Lofthouse style cookies in the refrigerator would mess up the soft pillowy-like goodness of the cookies. Any suggestions for an icing like these that wouldn't require refrigeration? Hope to hear something back from you soon! I would love to bake some up soon and try them. Thank you
Ilene Satkoski says
These hit the spot. I had been craving Lofthouse cookies but couldn’t find them in the grocery store. Then I saw your copycat recipe for 2. Perfect. Hubby loved them, too.
S says
I had a little frosting left over from another baking project and so I gave these cookies a try - they are perfection! Soft and pillowy, exactly what you want out of a Lofthouse sugar cookie. The two that didn't get eaten the night I made them tasted even better the next day. I'll definitely be making these again!