Copycat Lofthouse Sugar Cookies are soft and one of my favorite new cookie recipes decorated for Christmas.
Copycat Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
I made these sugar cookies earlier in the summer and decided to make them again today. They are so good and perfect for a Christmas Cookie tray because everyone loves a good sugar cookie. These may be my favorite ones ever! They stay soft and the cream cheese icing on top is just the right amount of sweetness.
It may seem a little soon to be posting Christmas Cookie Recipes but in the world of a food blogger it’s time now if not before. If you want to that something special to make when you look for something say Dec.1, it wouldn’t help if I didn’t start making cookies on Dec. 15. This recipe is my favorite recipe find this year, my friend Linda shared it with me back in the summer. It decorates up pretty good for Christmas too!
- 1 cup softened butter (no substitute)
- 3/4 cup oil
- 1 1/4 cups sugar (plus a 1/4 cup for dipping glass into)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour - measured correctly
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 teaspoons milk
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
- Add the butter, oil and sugar to a mixing bowl. Mix until combined.
- Add the water and vanilla. Mix together. Add eggs one at a time.
- Add the baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and flour to the bowl. Mix until thoroughly incorporated.
- Using a medium scoop, make balls of dough. Using a flat bottom glass that has been dipped in sugar, press down on cookies.
- Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Do not let cookies brown on bottoms. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
- Combine frosting ingredients together. Beat until thick and creamy.
- Frost cookies and sprinkle with jimmies if using.
Be sure that your flour is not packed down in your measuring cup. If you are just dipping your measuring cup into a canister or the bag you will end up with to much flour. Fluff your flour before measuring it. I made these again the other day and they did not taste at all like there was to much flour in them. A cup of flour should weight 120 grams. When you don’t measure correctly you can get 150 – 160 grams of flour in your cup. Use a knife to level the flour across the top. You can also measure the flour by weight if you really want to be accurate.
Some of our other Christmas Cookie Recipes
Sparkly Snowflake Cookies
Chocolate Fudge Peppermint Cookies
Peppermint Sticks
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For the frosting is the second vanilla supposed to be milk ?
Cookies are delish!!
Yes it was! Thanks for catching that. I updated the recipe. I love these cookies too.
what kind of oil did u use?
I have used both vegetable and canola oil. I would not use olive oil.
Do these need to be refrigerated?
I didn’t. I would say it is totally up to you as there is cream cheese in the frosting.
These turned out too floury in my opinion. Ick!! Disappointed
Did you use all purpose flour? Could your flour have been packed down some when you measured? I’ve made this recipe quite a few times and they have always been delicious. Sorry! Trying to figure out what happened because I want everyone to get good results.
I agree Natalie- I left out the 1/2 cup of flour…they are too floury for my taste as well. Bummer because they looked so good! I’ll take them to work and I’m sure others will like them.
Ooooo I’m excited to make these for my sisters baby shower! Thank you!!
These are divine. We made some for neighbours and got so many comments about how melt-in-your-mouth awesome they are. I used melted coconut oil for the oil. Yum!!!
Thanks Lanette! I think they are melt in your mouth awesome too. I’ll have to try the coconut oil in them, I just posted a Strawberry Dessert with a sugar cookie base and I used coconut oil in them and they were wonderful. Totally different texture from this cookie.
Are you able to stack these when frosted? They look delicious!
You can but I would put a layer of waxed paper between the layers. I always do it that way when I have frosted cookies.
omg those taste just like lofthouse they were perfect and lofthouse are my besties fav cookies will def make some of these for her bday in sep so glad I found this recipe outstanding
Thanks Erin! I so agree!
I made these on Saturday for Valentine’s Day and 5-1/2 cups of flour is way too much flour to add. After adding 4 cups, I stopped mainly cos my Kitchenaid stand up mixer could barely mix in that amount of flour. And after baking them, I think I could have even used a little less than 4 cups. They were a little dry and I only baked them for 8 mins. I will try the recipe again using just 3-1/2 cups of flour and see how they turn out.
Sorry that happened Debbie, I have made this recipe multiple times and never had that issue. Was your flour really packed down?
you need to fluff your flour, then measure by spooning it into our measuring cup and use a knife to scrape and level the top to properly measure your flour.
Lofthouse cookies are a soft and floury cookie, if you’ve never had one.
Great tip Rosie! You should always do this when measuring flour.
No I didn’t pack it down but I was wondering if you sifted yours. Anyway like I said, I will definitely try them again and don’t get me wrong, we liked the cookies – especially the icing.
Sometimes it gets packed in the bag. I left a bag on a shelf in my garage a few months ago and that bag got packed down just from the heat I think. I did have to sift that bag before I even added it to my flour canister or I would of had to sift the flour every time I used it. I’m just trying to figure out the cause because this recipe has been made a lot with great results. I’ve had it on my other site for over 6 months. One other person said they were dry and I can’t remember if it was here or the other site. We love that icing! I just want everyone to get great results so looking for an answer.
when I make them again – my step kids devoured them – I will let you know how they turn out. Thanks for all your responses!
i thought the cookie was dry. Didn’t exactly taste like loft house. I’m going to try a different recipe.
I too had a resultant cookie that was too flour-y, dry, crumbly. They look amazing, and the frosting helps but I will adjust the recipe next time (somehow) for a more moist cookie. (I fluffed the flour with my measuring cup before leveling but didn’t sift)
Hi Mary Ellen! I found this recipe on Pinterest and love it! I agree, I’m going to leave out about 1/2 cup of flour the next time I make these (which will probably be today, because I need a cookie fix). I wrote about making these on my blog today as well and linked to your site for the recipe.
Thanks for a great recipe! (and for some reason, it will only let me give you 4 stars)
These came out perfect!! So good :)
Thanks Christina!
Just made the cookies…fantastic!! Made as recipe it. Would definitely make again. Thank you for the recipe!!
I just made these for the first time and because of some of the prior comments I read I made sure to weigh my flour. I have never done this before. I learned that I was adding too much flour when using a measuring cup. I am going to start weighing my flour from now on. The cookies are delicious. They are soft and not too floury at all. This recipe reminds me of a favorite cookie I used to buy that had a pink frosting (can’t remember who made it) but you would buy them wrapped individually in certain grocery stores in the northwest. Anyway, great recipe. Thank you!
Thanks Leanne for your comment! Weighing the flour will make a huge difference in all of your baking.
I made these on Christmas Eve for my family and they turned out PERFECT!! Can’t wait to make them again and I will definitely be making them every Christmas from now on! Best sugar cookies ever! :)
I made this cookie recipe and I loved it :-) I was worried at first because of all the reviews about to much flour but I made it anyways and did everything you said and used the same amount of flour as written and they came out perfect. I haven’t been baking that long maybe about a year but this cookie recipe has to be the best and my most successful recipe I ever made. You just have to make sure your flour ain’t packed down. Just fluff it back up before you measure it and you should be good and you won’t have to use less flour as written. But anyways I love these cookies allot and they are my favorite recipe evrer. Thank you so much for this awsome recipe. Today I’m thinking about making this recipe into a snickerdoodle since I haven’t come across one that I like yet. I’ll come back and let you know how that turns out ok. Thank you again for the recipe :-)
I’m curious as to which device you use to weigh the flour? I have baked a lot but never used a weight scale. I’d rather fluff or sift the flour instead of spending extra money. Do you think I could get away with it?
Also I was wondering if you can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it?
Loved these cookies! I was really worried about the amount of flour but I did not pack it down and used the exact amount called for in the recipe. Will definitely make again!
I made these cookies yesterday. The icing calls for 1 tsp. of sea salt. The icing was so salty I had to toss it out. Is this an error?
What thickness should the cookie be pressed to?
I made these and they are AWESOME! I want to do them for a cookie exchange for Christmas. I worry about stacking/storing with the frosting.
Think they would work if I just used sprinkles or colored sugars?
Sure sprinkles and colored sugars will work well. If you are worried about stacking them put a layer of waxed paper between each layer. I usually do this with all of my cookies. Happy Holidays!
Can these cookies be made into cookie cutter shapes? They are some of the best sugar cookies I have tasted!
I don’t think you can roll out this dough but you could try I guess. Let me know if you try it thanks!
This is the very first time I have ever commented on a recipe these cookies are the most delicious cookies I have ever tasted just made them thank you so much for sharing! Have a Merry Christmas ! I did measure my flour as well
Hi Diana, glad to hear you enjoyed these cookies. Have a Merry Christmas too!
Thanks Diana! I made these again the other day for Christmas. They were all gone in a day.
did you use salted or unsalted butter?
I always buy salted and reduce the salt in the recipe if I think I need to.
Me and my mom made these cookies and they were amazing! My whole family enjoyed them!! Thank you:)
I made them and they were fantastic. But I added almond with her vanilla and that made them even better.
I have tried so many Lofthouse cookie recipes and this is the absolute best. I made it exactly as the recipe states. Definitely don’t pack down the flour. I used a medium scoop and a smaller scoop and like them both. I use the smaller ones for us to eat and the medium scoop for bake sale cookies. Love, love, love these. I have had many compliments.
Thank you. You just reminded me to add these to my list for Christmas!
Oh my! These melt in your mouth!! Do you think they could be frozen with the icing on them?
Can I freeze these if so should I ball them up before I freeze them?
These cookies are simply AMAZING! I am an avid cookie baker and have a top 3 favorite list from friends and family, and these were in the top 3! Several asked for the recipe! The only thing I changed was to add an additional 1/2 tsp salt to both the cookies ad the frosting to balance the sweetness. It really brings out the buttery taste of the frosting! I tried making these as chocolate cookies by adding 1 cup cocoa and reducing the flour by 1 cup, and while they were good, the vanilla are much better. Thank you for this recipe!
This is my second year making these cookies and they are always a hit! I’ve even made them gluten free for my Sister and Sister-in-law one has celiac and the other has gluten sensitivities a simple switch to Namaste flour that I found at Costco made it easy and the cookies turned out. Thanks for sharing this recipe!