These soft buttercream cookies are the perfect Lofthouse copycat recipe! These thick and soft cookies are covered in a creamy pink frosting and sprinkles.
As a kid, I was obsessed with lofthouse cookies at the grocery store! They just looked SO pretty to me, but I guarantee that these soft pink frosted sugar cookies are so much better. Super thick and tender vanilla almond cookies covered in the best buttercream frosting.
These soft frosted cookies are so soft thanks to a combination of butter, cornstarch and sour cream - no dry cookies here!
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!
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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 by Step Instructions
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
Lofthouse style cookies are super soft and almost cake like thanks to a combination of baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and sour cream!
No, I made this recipe to be a drop cookie recipe! That way you don't have to worry about rolling out cookie dough or cutting out shapes, this is way easier!
Make sure you measured your flour with a kitchen scale! Then, once you add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients, stop mixing as soon as there are no more streaks of flour. Finally, make sure not to overbake these cookies.
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!
Make these cookies next!
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Recipe
Buttercream Cookies
Ingredients
Soft Sugar Cookies
- 2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ¼ cup sour cream room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract optional
Sugar Cookie Buttercream
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- pinch salt
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- soft pink food gel
Instructions
Cookies
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.2 ¾ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla extract and almond extract (if using), mix until combined. Add in the sour cream and mix once more.1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup white sugar, 1 large egg, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon almond extract, ¼ cup sour cream
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃ and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop out 2 tablespoons of cookie dough and roll into a ball. Place on the baking sheet, keeping the cookie dough balls 3-4 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes. The edges will be set but the middles might look slightly underbaked. Take a large biscuit cutter or glass to scoot the cookies into a perfect round shape.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with the powdered sugar. It will look dry at first which is fine!½ cup unsalted butter, 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, salt and 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream. Mix on medium-high speed and it should become super soft and creamy. If it isn't as soft as you like, you can add more heavy cream.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon almond extract, pinch salt, 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- Add a few drops of food gel and mix until the frosting is the color you want.soft pink food gel
- Frost the completely cooled cookies and enjoy.
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