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
Cakespy says
I am 100 percent certain that cookies have curative properties. Especially pretty ones like this. :-)
Joanie @ Zagleft says
Lofthouse cookies from the store are sooooo good but nothing beats homemade. Yours are so pretty and I love that they're a small batch!
Katerina @ Diethood says
OH! I hope you're feeling better!! Have a few fried donuts, m'kay? They help! ;-)
I LOVE them lofthouse cookies, though... so freakin' good! These look incredibly soft and delicious and festive!
Akram Taghavi-Burris says
This recipe sounds so good. My husband also loves those cookies from the store and could eat a dozen. I love the fact that this recipe makes a reasonable 6 cookies prefect for a couple. Also since my husband's not supposed to have sugar I think I'll try out this recipe and use Splenda. We'll see how that works out.
michelle @ blackberry babe says
These cookies are my JAM! YUM!
Melanie | Melanie Makes says
I'm so glad that my body isn't the only one that needs a good kick of fast food every once in awhile! In fact, I celebrated selling our house in two days yesterday with Wendy's. It seemed like the right Ohio thing to do. lol
These cookies? Beyond being the most adorable thing ever, they look absolutely divine. I think I'd down all six!
Christina Lane says
Isn't it wild? I love it! Once a month or so, the Arby's better get ready for me, hah! Is Wendy's a Ohio chain? I had no idea!
Erin R. says
I'm happy/sad to report that I live approximately 40 miles south of the Lofthouse Cookie OUTLET. Perfectly fresh, delicious (slightly misshapen) cookies in every color imaginable, at half price. It's rough. Your small batch is a much better idea. And I've never tried sour cream in sugar cookies before, so I'm quite intrigued! Thanks!
Christina Lane says
Can I move in? I mean, come for a quick visit....slash move in and sleep on your couch?
Kendra says
Im just curious.... where does it call for sour cream at all in the recipe? Am only wondering because I was just about ready to make a batch of these and didn't know if maybe I had over looked something. Lol wouldn't want to ruin and spoil the first batch of cookies made in my household this winter. The husband would never let me live it down! Lol
Christina Lane says
It doesn't call for sour cream, just heavy cream. You can sub it, though!
Sandra says
Started these at 8:30pm and in less than an hour they were baked, cooled, frosted and eaten! Made them for three teen-aged boys...one of whom couldn't wait through the cooling stage and devoured his share warm.:) Once again, my thighs thank you for keeping me away from the remains of a standard three dozen batch of cookies! (I used a medium-sized scoop which produced nine fabulous cookies.)
Sandra says
Have I told you how much I looooove these!?!? Just made another quick batch...between Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day I've been able to use up some of my remaining red/green Christmas Cookie sprinkles and coloring. Quick. Easy. Delicious.
Christina Lane says
I'm so glad, Sandra! Thanks for letting me know <3
nancy K says
I finally had to give in and make these cookies.Oh, my goodness…they are so delicious.I ended up with eight and still had plenty of icing. I know will be making these again and again…maybe with some alternative icings to change it up a bit. Thanks, Christina!!
Holly says
Hi. I recently found your blog a decided I had to try these! My twin sister just moved out so there are only 3 of us and I see no need to have an excessive amount of sweets in the house when I can make small batches (something that I never even thought of!). I made these today and the cookies themselves were very good but for some reason the frosting tasted like butter. I really don't know why because I used the correct amount of everything. I used butter, but in general can you use margarine instead of butter in your recipes? Thanks! Oh, and btw you are beautiful (in a non creepy way of course) and so is your daughter.
Christina Lane says
Hi Holly! Thanks so much for writing me, and nice to meet you :) Hehe, I think I love butter way more than you! You could try this cream cheese frosting?: https://www.dessertfortwo.com/red-velvet-cupcakes-2/