Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies that require no chilling, no rolling pins, and no cookie cutters! These are similar to the famous “Lofthouse Cookies” and are topped off with a sweet vanilla buttercream frosting and sprinkles.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, what a great excuse to make something sweet for someone you love or just for yourself (even better, because then you don’t have to share). I’m a little bummed that today falls on Ash Wednesday because I’ll be fasting (-ish?) today and not indulging in sweets, but there’s always tomorrow 😉
Many of you know that I already have a favorite cut-out sugar cookie recipe, but these soft frosted sugar cookies are a bit different. For one, there’s no need to chill the dough or roll it out — just scoop the dough and roll it into balls between your palms before baking.
This frosting is also a sweet and simple buttercream that is easy for spreading, whereas my other recipe uses an icing that’s similar to royal icing and is better for piping.
Tips for Making Perfect Frosted Sugar Cookies
- The dough will be a bit sticky when you go to roll it into balls and some of the dough will stick to your palms, but it shouldn’t be so sticky that you aren’t able to roll it. If you have a great deal of difficulty rolling the dough, feel free to add more flour, and lightly dusting your hands with flour may also help.
- This frosting is a sweet vanilla buttercream, the frosting does not set very hard and stays soft. For frosting that will become firm, you can add more powdered sugar, but keep in mind that it will be more difficult to spread on top of your cookies.
- Make sure your soft sugar cookies cool completely before topping with the frosting, otherwise it will melt!
- I recommend using a gel food coloring if you wish to color your frosting, it has a great vibrant color and a little bit goes a long way. Liquid food coloring will work instead, though, the color just won’t be as bright.
Enjoy!
Full printable recipe just below the video. If you enjoy these videos, please subscribe to my YouTube channel!
How to Make Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Bases
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (113g)
- 1 cup sugar (200g)
- ⅓ cup sour cream (80g)
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter (113g)
- 1 cup powdered sugar (125g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- food coloring optional
- sprinkles, for decorating optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine butter and sugar in large bowl and beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add sour cream, stir well.
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Stir well.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet until well-combined.
- Roll dough into 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized ball and place on prepared cookie sheet. Use your fingers to gently flatten (if dough sticks to your fingers, wet them first)
- Bake on 375F for 6-8 minutes. If cookies puff while cooking, use the clean bottom of a glass to gently re-flatten. Allow cookies to cool while you prepare your frosting.
Frosting
- Place butter in a medium-sized bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar until combined. Stir in vanilla extract and salt.
- Add food coloring and stir until even in color.
- Use a spatula to spread frosting evenly over cooled cookies. Decorate with sprinkles. Store cookies in airtight container.
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.
Nae
Is it possible to make shapes out of this recipe?
Sam
Unfortunately they won’t hold their shape very well. 🙁
Debbie Jennings
Yummo! I made this recipe using 1 to 1 gluten free flour. Plus, I omitted any food coloring in the frosting, thinking about a healthier cookie, if there is such a thing lol. They were big cookies! It yielded 17 cookies. And perfectly yummo at 7 minutes. Thanks for the recipe.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Debbie! Thank you for the feedback using the gluten free flour. 🙂
Shelby
Hi! I’m so excited to find this recipe. I plan to make them for Easter! Is fat free sour cream ok to use? Or will that change the outcome? Also if I do use Greek yogurt instead, is low fat or fat free ok? Thank you in advance!
Sam
Hi Shelby! I would recommend using at least a low fat sour cream, or greek yogurt. I’m not sure how they would turn out using fat free.
Margaret
Hello Sam! Hope life with 2 kiddos is treating you well. I was wondering whether these cookies would freeze well? Or not, because of the frosting?
Sam
Hi Margaret! Having 2 kiddos is so wonderful. They are such a joy! Thanks for asking. 🙂 These cookies should freeze well. I would put a layer of wax paper between them to keep them from sticking to each other. 🙂
Maureen
I’m wondering if doubling this recipe, could I just use 3 whole eggs or should I do 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Maureen! We’d still recommend sticking with the 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks. Hope you love the cookies! 😊
Charlene
Second time making these. I love them. Only thing I add is almond extract.
Ines
I’m working on baking for my niece’s dessert table for her shower. I would love to add these cookies to the cookie trays. Being that I have to prepare so many cookies, I was wondering if the frosting dries so that I could put them in boxes for storage till I’m ready to assemble the cookie trays.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Ines! The frosting will form a skin but is still fragile enough that we don’t recommend it for stacking. Hope that helps!