Buttercream Cookies

If you're looking for cut out cookies, I recommend taking a look at my no spread sugar cookie recipe! But if you aren't too confident with icing intricate cookies, frosted sugar cookies are your best bet!

Why you'll love these buttercream cookies!

• These are just like your nostalgic favorite sugar cookies with buttercream frosting, but homemade!
• These cookies are super soft and tender thanks to the addition of cornstarch and sour cream.
• The buttercream is flavored with vanilla extract and almond extract, but you can swap out the almond if you wish!
• These are so fun to make for the holidays, so swap out the pink frosting for red and green for Christmas, or purple and orange for Halloween!

Ingredients Needed

• Flour: I've only tested this recipe with all purpose flour.
• Butter: I always use unsalted butter in my recipes so I can control the amount of salt in the recipe.
• Cornstarch: use cornflour or cornstarch to make these cookies super soft! Don't skip this out.
• Sour Cream: using sour cream will make your cookies super soft, moist and tender.
• Almond Extract: to get that lofthouse cookie flavor I'm adding a little bit of almond extract to the cookies and to the frosting, but feel free to leave this out if you have a nut allergy or don't have almond extract on hand.
• Confectioners' Sugar: also known as icing sugar or powdered sugar.

Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Step 2: In another bowl or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract and mix until combined. Add the sour cream and mix once more.

Step 3: Pour all of the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Step 4: Preheat your oven to 350ºFahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of the chilled cookie dough and place the cookie dough balls 3-4 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set and a light golden brown and the middles are still slightly underbaked. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before removing to a wire cooling rack.

Step 5: In a large bowl with a hand held electric mixer or in a stand mixer, whisk the butter with the confectioners' sugar. It is going to look dry and crumbly at first which is fine!

Step 6: Add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt. Mix until soft and creamy, then add a few drops of food gel.

To frost, I like scooping out the frosting with a small or medium cookie scoop and placing it in the middle of the cooled cookie. Then I use a small offset spatula to spread the frosting around and create swirls, before adding sprinkles.

Recipe Tips & Tricks

• I always recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out your ingredients! It is so easy to add too much flour if you're using a measuring cup, giving you super dry cookies.
• I recommend using gel coloring for the frosting, you only need a drop or two! My favorite brand is Americolor.
• Don't skip out on chilling the cookie dough, otherwise these cookies will spread too much in the oven.
• Swap out the frosting colors depending on the season or holiday!
• Use a large glass or biscuit cutter to gently scoot the cookies into a perfect round shape once they come out of the oven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Storage

Keep the soft frosted cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. The frosting will get a bit of a crust on it, so keep that in mind!