Soft Lofthouse Style Christmas Cookies
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Make your own Lofthouse Sugar Cookies at home! These fluffy, cakelike, soft sugar cookies are easy to make and topped with delicious buttercream icing with colorful sprinkles, just in time for all your holiday baking.
DIY Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
These soft sugar cookies are a tasty replication of the well-known Lofthouse sugar cookies. If you are not familiar with this amazingly decadent and soft sugar cookie recipe, let me introduce you to what will shortly become your favorite kind of cookie!
It’s as if cookies and cupcakes decided to get together to form fluffy, airy and cake-like cookies that are then topped off with buttery vanilla frosting and adorably decorated with sprinkles.
With Christmas just around the corner, what better cookies to start making than these Soft Lofthouse Christmas Cookies?
Why Make these Soft Sugar Cookies
- Easy to make so you can get the kids or grandkids involved. (Or if you have teenagers like me, just let them have at it!)
- The cookies can be made and stored ahead of time.
- Soft Lofthouse Sugar Cookies make great homemade gifts for friends, neighbors and family!
Ingredients for these Lofthouse Style Christmas Cookies + Notes
Want to give these soft Christmas cookies a try? These are the ingredients to add to your list.
(Ingredients at a glance, find the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.)
FOR COOKIES
- Softened butter | To get the butter perfectly softened, remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes prior to baking.
- Sugar | Use white granulated sugar for best results.
- Sour cream | Sour cream helps to create soft tender cookie dough, adding more flavor to the cookies.
- Eggs | Large size.
- Vanilla extract | Use the best vanilla extract you can find.
- Flour | All-purpose flour provides a good structure to your cookie, but for best results use cake flour if you have it! Cake flour has less protein than all-purpose flour, and will create a more delicate texture.
- Baking powder | Both baking powder and baking soda are used to provide enough lift in the cookies. They also assist with browning and flavor.
- Baking soda | Makes sure to replace your baking powder and soda every 3 months for best baking results.
- Salt
FOR FROSTING
- Softened butter
- Vegetable shortening | something like Crisco
- Vanilla extract | Vanilla bean paste is also great for adding wonderful flavor to frosting!
- Milk |
- Optional: Holiday food coloring | Red and greed food coloring makes festive Christmas cookies!
- Holiday sprinkles | Try something like this Wilton Mega Sprinkles Pack or the sprinkles we used
How To Make these Frosted Sugar Cookies
(You can print out the recipe card if you scroll down)
- Start by creaming your butter and sugar. Then add sour cream and eggs. Once that is mixed well, add the vanilla.
- Grab a small bowl and add in your dry ingredients and mix it up.
- Then slowly add-in in the dry ingredients and mix until it is incorporated. Don’t over-mix or it will make cookies more dense and chewy rather than the soft loft-house style we are going for.
- Chill the dough for at least an hour.
- Bake the cookies at 350° F for 8 to 10 minutes. DO NOT OVER-BAKE- you want your cookies soft, not crispy.! Oven rack position and baking pan will affect the cook time, so keep an eye on your cookie, starting at the 7 minute mark. (My prettiest cookies came with using a silpat mat and baking stone.) Dark baking sheets will make for a more brown cookie bottom.
- Frost the soft sugar cookies with your homemade butter cream (recipe in card at the bottom of the post)
FAQ’S
Is It Absolutely Necessary To Chill The Cookie Dough?
Absolutely necessary? Well, no. But chilling your cookie dough will ensure that it gets nice and firm which will help to prevent your cookies from flattening out during baking. Chilling gives these soft sugar cookies just the right amount of thickness and also helps to stop the dough from being overly sticky. I definitely recommend chilling the dough.
How Should I Store These Lofthouse Christmas Cookies?
Store your cookies in two easy ways:
- At room temperature: Store the cookies in an airtight container in a cool, dry area of your kitchen for 3 to 5 days.
- In the freezer: Store them in the freezer (frosted or not) for 2 – 3 months. When you decide to thaw them out, I suggest that you thaw them in the refrigerator prior to bringing them to room temperature.
Can I Make These Frosted Christmas Cookies Ahead Of Time?
Yes! These frosted Christmas cookies are great for making ahead of time and saving you from that crazy mad rush we all know when it comes to the holiday season! Luckily, these soft sugar cookies can easily be frozen before or after frosting.
These are my two favorite ways of making these cookies ahead of time:
#1. Make Unbaked Cookie Dough Ahead of Time
- You can make your cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. When you are ready to bake them, let them reach room temperature for 30 minutes, preheat the oven, bake, cool and frost.
#2. Make and Store Baked Cookies (With or Without Frosting)
- You can store your completely baked cookies in an airtight container somewhere cool and dry in your kitchen for a few days or freeze them in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy them, simply thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature before serving.
- If you do decide to bake and frost with the intention of freezing them for later enjoyment or gifting, I suggest that you place them uncovered on a baking sheet in your freezer for 2-3 hours or until completely hardened. Once hardened, you can transfer them into an airtight container and stack them with pieces of wax paper between the stacked layers. This will ensure that your frosting remains intact when storing in the freezer.
Tips for this Lofthouse Style Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe
- Cut down on time by using store-bought frosting. You can thicken it up slightly by adding a tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time to get your desired thickness.
- Watch that your cookies don’t overbake. A good indication of when they are done is when they have lost their shine on the top.
- To make regular-sized cookies, roll your dough into balls of 2 tablespoons in size. (I use a 2 tablespoon scoop) For larger cookies, use a large scoop (about 3 tablespoons in size) to scoop your dough for the correct size.
- Your butter for sugar cookies should not be too hard or too soft but that perfect in-between consistency. If it’s too soft then your cookies will spread and if it’s too hard and cold then your cookies will also be hard.
- I’ve kept my frosting plain vanilla but there’s nothing stopping you from adding red or green food coloring to add some Christmas cheer to your frosting!
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More Treats for the Holidays
- Santa’s Whiskers Cookie Recipe
- White Chocolate Cranberry Pecan Sugar Cookies
- Easy Peppermint Twist Cookies
- Saltine Toffee
- White Chocolate Holiday Bark
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Print
Soft Lofthouse Style Christmas Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies 1x
- Category: desserts
- Method: oven
Description
Make Lofthouse Sugar Cookies at home! These soft sugar cookies are topped with a delicious buttercream icing and colorful holiday themed sprinkles.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1–1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Frosting:
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (crisco)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- Optional: Holiday food coloring
- Holiday sprinkles
Instructions
Cookie Dough:
- In a large bowl combine sugar and butter. Mix until butter is light and fluffy looking and sugar is well incorporated. Add sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well.
- In a smaller bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt,
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until everything is just incorporated. Do not overbeat!
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about 2 hours.
- With a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out even size scoops of dough and then roll in a ball in your hand and place on a cookie sheet and slightly flatten with your hand so it’s in a circular shape.
- Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven until light golden brown, for 8 to 10 minutes. (you want them soft!)
- Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting Instructions:
- Using a mixer, combine butter and shortening until completely combined (about a minute)
- Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and beat until smooth, add another 1/2 cup and beat until smooth.
- Add Vanilla, mix. Gradually add the remaining sugar and milk. Add food coloring if desired. Continue to mix until smooth.
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