Has anyone ever had those Lofthouse sugar cookies from the grocery store? You know the kind- the thick, soft sugar cookies with a sweet layer of frosting and sprinkles on the top. Well, these taste just like them. But homemade, which makes them even better.
The recipe makes a lot, and that’s just fine, because they’ll go quickly (to make things less tempting, I froze half of my dough).
Even with our dry mountain air, well-wrapped, these taste almost better the next day, when the flavors have a chance to meld.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with these cookies, either. Here are some ideas to start:
-Add 2 teaspoons of almond or coconut extract to the dough and top the icing with toasted coconut flakes
-Add 1/4 poppy seeds and the zest of one lemon to the dough and top with lemon icing (sub lemon juice for half of the heavy cream (3 tablespoons))
-Mix some strawberry powder into the icing. Top with edible flowers for a romantic Valentine’s Day cookie.
Happy baking!
Above: The lightest golden brown underside of a properly baked cookie.
How to make this high altitude adjusted recipe:
Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies
Adapted from The Novice Chef Blog
- COOKIES:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½ cups sour cream
- 6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ICING:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and very fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined.
- Stir in the vanilla and sour cream.
- In another bowl, combine 5½ cups of the flour, the baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Slowly add to the dough, mixing until incorporated.
- You will have ½ cup of flour left. If the dough is still very sticky, add some of the flour until it is a soft dough. I used the full 6 cups, but that was just my kitchen on that particular day. This amount will vary depending on the dryness of your flour. Remember the dough will firm up as a chills, too.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and chill overnight, or until firm.
- Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to ¼" thick. Cut out shapes and place on parchment lined baking sheets.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are puffed and the bottoms are the lightest golden brown.
- Immediately transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
- Once cool, decorate with icing and sprinkles.
- To make the icing, beat the butter and salt until fluffy. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, alternating with the heavy cream. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Makes about 3 dozen medium-sized cookies.
Note: This recipe was adapted for high altitude baking. To make at sea level, increase the baking soda and baking powder to 1 teaspoon each. Baking times may vary slightly.
