You can make perfectly soft Lofthouse Cookies right in your own kitchen. My carefully-tested copycat recipe is surprisingly simple, with all the flavors of the real thing but none of the artificial stuff! Recipe includes a how-to video.
Sweet & Soft Lofthouse Cookies
Well, this recipe sure was an adventure. I spent the past few weeks exhausting my ovens and mixer while working to capture the true essence and texture of real Lofthouse cookies, only without any of the artificial flavors/mass-produced taste.
I tried uncommon ingredients, cumbersome techniques, and spent about 10lbs of butter tweaking the recipe to perfection, only to land on a version that is surprisingly unfussy (thank goodness!) and that uses very basic ingredients. They have a classic, soft and cakey, not-too-sweet base that’s paired with a much sweeter frosting. Exactly like the real thing.
The Lofthouse cookie frosting is a slightly modified American buttercream; it’s sweet and will develop a crust as it sits (though it’s still not great for stacking — you’ll get smudged icing). I chose to color mine with pretty shades of pink (which my sister insisted was the classic and only choice), but you could use any color or leave them white. They make cute fall cookies decorated with orange icing and halloween sprinkles, too!
What You Need
Here’s what you need to make your copycat Lofthouse cookies taste just like the real thing:
- Cake flour. Cake flour is one of the key ingredients that makes these cookies a true copycat. It gives them that light, melt-in-your-mouth texture. I tried so many methods to make the cookies taste authentic and found that cake flour made the biggest difference. While you can substitute an equal-weight amount of all-purpose flour, you simply won’t get the same texture.
- Corn starch. This makes our Lofthouse cookies soft and tender, and it helps them keep their shape too! Don’t skip it!
- Vanilla extract. I use pure vanilla extract here, but you can substitute imitation vanilla extract for a flavor that’s slightly closer to the store-bought version.
- Egg + egg white. The extra egg white adds structure to the dough and contributes to that light, slightly more cakey texture that you’re familiar with (such a switch from the chewy cookies I usually aim for!).
- Corn syrup. This is for the Lofthouse cookie icing. While you could leave this out (expect a softer frosting), just a tablespoon gives the frosting the perfect texture and makes it taste like the real deal!
Here’s what you won’t find: Sour cream! While many recipes use it, I found it was not necessary and did not yield a true taste or texture. While I use it in my (similar) frosted sugar cookies, it just didn’t belong in a Lofthouse cookie recipe (though I went through several tubs of sour cream during my testing, trying to make it work!)!
SAM’S TIP: For the frosting, I prefer using gel food coloring because it’s more potent and yields a much brighter, more vibrant color than liquid food coloring. A single drop of gel works for this icing!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Texture & Technique
Before we go any further, let’s talk texture and technique for a moment.
You’ll notice that if you break a store-bought Lofthouse cookie in half, the cookie is sort of made up of delicate layers, almost like a scone or biscuit. To achieve this effect, I tried using a food processor to make this dough (cutting butter into the dry ingredients) and was able to recreate that same, flaky/layered appearance in my cookies… but it did nothing for the taste and in a blind-taste-test was indiscernible from the cookies made in a more traditional manner.
Because of this, I decided it wasn’t worth a more complicated method (or the extra dirty dish), and opted for the simpler, more traditional creaming method instead (detailed below!).
How to Make Lofthouse Cookies (The Dough)
- Cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light, fluffy, and creamy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until combined. Always scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl frequently while mixing, this ensures even distribution of the ingredients.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Form the dough into a disc, cover it with plastic, and let it chill for at least an hour and up to 3 days — this will make the dough more manageable and less prone to spreading in the oven.
Cutting, Cooking & Frosting
- Roll out the dough and cut out 2″ circles. Bake the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet for 8-10 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on their sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Preparing the frosting, adding food coloring if desired.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cookies and top with sprinkles.
SAM’S TIP: Plan your cuts carefully to get as many cookies as you can out of your first roll, but don’t forget to regroup your scraps from cutting out your cookies! We want to get as many cookies as possible from our dough.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your cookies are hard and dry, you may have added too much flour or over-baked them. Lofthouse cookies are very pale and shouldn’t have any browning when you pull them out of the oven (even the bottoms should appear pale if you flip them over – if the bottoms appear golden, that’s actually an indicator they baked too long!).
Using the right ingredients helps (don’t stray from the recipe!) as well as proper storage. Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Do NOT put them in the fridge, or they will become dry and hard!
Not quite. While Lofthouse cookies can technically be considered sugar cookies, a classic sugar cookie is a much sturdier, thinner, and sweeter cookie that’s more crisp, great for using more detailed shapes, and often decorated with a sprinkling of sugar or royal icing. Lofthouse cookies are distinct in that they have softer, cakier layers, a buttercream-esque frosting, and a traditionally circular shape.
These copycat Lofthouse cookies were quite a project for me to develop and get just right (took months!) but ultimately they were so much fun to make. I hope you enjoy making them just as much!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Copycat Lofthouse Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg white
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ¼ cups (375 g) cake flour
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
Frosting
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter softened
- 2 ¼ cups (280 g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- Food coloring optional, I used Americolor "soft pink" and "electric pink" for the cookies in today's post
- Sprinkles optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
Cookies
- Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer) and beat until light and creamy.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- Stir in egg, egg white, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.1 large egg + 1 large egg white, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together cake flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.3 ¼ cups (375 g) cake flour, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon table salt
- With mixer on low-speed, gradually add dry ingredients to wet until completely combined.
- Form dough into a 1” thick disk and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Once dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove dough from refrigerator. Transfer to a clean, lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll dough to be between ¼-½” (about 1 cm) thick (if too is too sticky, return to refrigerator, if it is too difficult to roll and/or is cracking, let sit at room temperature for a bit before trying to roll again).
- Use a 2” (5cm) round cookie cutter to cut out cookies as close together as possible and place on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 2” (5cm) apart.
- Bake in 350F (175C) oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for at least 5-10 minutes before carefully removing to cooling rack to cool completely Note: over-baked cookies are dry, crumbly cookies. Yours should be very pale coming out of the oven (not golden-brown), even the bottoms should be pale and not browned.
- Once cookies have cooled completely, decorate with frosting.
Frosting
- In a large bowl (or stand mixer) using an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add about half the powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and salt and stir until smooth and thoroughly combined, then gradually stir in remaining powdered sugar. If using food coloring, stir it in at the end adding a small bit at a time until desired color is reached.¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, 2 ¼ cups (280 g) powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon table salt, Food coloring
- Spread or pipe frosting evenly over cookies (I use a ½” open tip) and decorate with sprinkles, if desired.Sprinkles
Notes
Cake Flour
I recommend cake flour for the best texture! All-purpose flour will yield cookies with a texture that’s not quite true to traditional Lofthouse cookies. If you must substitute all-purpose, you will need 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour.Corn Syrup
Corn syrup is recommended in the frosting for a true-to-the-original smooth frosting that crusts properly. You may leave it out if desired, but the frosting won’t be quite the same (and you may need a Tablespoon more of butter or a splash of milk to keep the frosting from being too thick).Making in Advance
The dough may be made up to 3 days in advance of baking. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. If the dough starts to crack upon rolling it, let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or so until it rolls without breaking/cracking. The frosting may be prepared up to 3 days in advance as well, store in an airtight container (room temperature or refrigerated) with a piece of plastic wrap directly against the surface then allow to come to room temperature (if refrigerated) and stir until smooth before using.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They may also be wrapped and frozen for several months.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Blue
Absolutely delicious and simple to make. Thank you for sharing a wonderful recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Layla Sizemore
This recipe turned out perfect for me! No notes! Just follow it to a T and it will work. I did use only slightly softened butter for dough and I think that helped the dough keep its shape better.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Layla! 🙂
Robin
So I live in Southeast Texas near Houston on the Gulf Coast. Our humidity is on an average of around 70% high or higher especially in the summer. Asking about the icing for these cookies. On rainy days where its 80% or just average hot days when it’s super high, what would you suggest doing differently for the icing? Thank you!
Sam
Hi Robin! What do you mean what should you do differently? Did you have an issue with it previously? In too much heat there won’t be many frostings that will hold up well.
Robin
Would I adjust the liquid because I fear that the icing may end up too runny. Sorry I didn’t make myself clear! Like when I make glazes on the stove for bundt cakes. And a recipe may say add 1/2 of a cup of Heavy Whipping Cream and cook it with an egg yolk, etc and then add it to the powdered sugar and it would be like water so I’d have to keep experimenting and then find it works well with only 1/8 of a cup of Heavy Whipping Cream. Hope that helps you see my dilemma! lol Thanks Sam
Sam
Unfortunately you might just have to play with it as you do other recipes. I’m not typically in that type of environment to test it. 😔
Robin
Ok. I thought maybe you’d had some other people that you had read the same problem and maybe you had some sort of fix. Move off of the Gulf Coast! lol
Thanks Sam.
Ann
Could I replace the corn syrup in the frosting with golden or maple syrup? Could I make a chocolate version?
Sam
Hi Ann! I haven’t tried a substitute, but you could leave it out, just expect to have a softer frosting. 🙂
Emma
Do these cookies have a more soft-doughy texture? I personally prefer them to be soft but a bit crumbly. Would I just need to bake them for a bit longer or are there other steps involved?
Sam
Hi Emma! If you’ve ever had a lofthouse cookie they are basically the same texture. I would say soft but not crumbly or doughy. If you bake them longer they would be more dry. I would probably recommend doing a batch baking them as is, tasting them, then making adjustments from there.
Elizabeth Thompson
I made these and topped them with an Almond Buttercream icing. The taste and texture are just like Eileen’s Colossal Cookies! I’m so excited! Thank you so much!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Elizabeth! 🙂
Isabel
These are the BEST sugar cookies I’ve ever had. Sam, thank you so much for creating and sharing this scrumptious recipe!
I made these in heart shapes for Valentine’s Day and dipped the smaller hearts in melted white chocolate with a touch of heavy whipping cream and they came out perfect. The larger hearts were frosted with your frosting and they also came out perfect. I am looking forward to making these again soon.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you loved the cookies, Isabel! Your version sounds adorable 😍
Colby
Will chilling the dough a couple days in advance affect the texture? Also, If I’m out of cake flour (they’re out at the store as well, yay…), would you suggest the all-purpose flour substitute or the all-purpose flour combined with cornstarch?
Sam
Hi Colby! I think the dough should be fine in the refrigerator for a few days. It may need to sit at room temperature for a little while to warm up and be roll-able. I haven’t tried the substitution here, but it should work. It does work with just plain all purpose flour but the texture isn’t quite the same.
Alex
These were great, but more of a soft sugar cookie than a lofthouse cookie.
MegK
This recipe turned out really well! The cookies were super soft just like the store bought version and the icing was to die for. I’ve never done a buttercream with corn syrup before, but I am a believer! Will make it this way all the time now.
I will say, the cookie base tasted *very* cornstarch-y to my family and I. Would leaving out the tablespoon in the dough affect the texture too much?
Sam
Hi Meg! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! I think you can get away with leaving it out 🙂
Angelica
Hi Sam! I really loved the recipe, the buttercream was AMAZING! Family loved it! However, the sugar cookie itself tasted more like a regular sugar cookie than the Lofthouse variety. I will say though that I didn’t have any cake flour on hand and read about a substitute (1 cup flour with 2 tbsp removed, replaced with 2 tbsp cornstarch) and did weigh the flour, plus the bottoms of cookies were pale like you said so I don’t think they were over-baked, either. Do you think this may have affected the flavor? Overall, I really liked the recipe and will be using it in the future.
Sam
Hi Angelica! Yes, unfortunately using all purpose flour does not yield the same texture/flavor and I don’t really recommend it. I include notes below the recipe in case you must use all-purpose flour, but with the warning that the outcome won’t be as authentic. Cake flour is really the best option for these cookies. 🙁
David
These came out PERFECT!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks for trying my recipe, David!! 🙂