Description

Thick, soft, melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies topped with a generous layer of frosting and sprinkles. These copycat Lofthouse frosted sugar cookies are just like the store-bought kind but way better!

Ingredients

Scale

For the cookies:

75 gm (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, softened
42 gm (3 tablespoons) vegetable oil
100 gm (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
90 gm (3/4 cup) powdered sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
60 gm (1/4 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
300 gm (2 1/2 cups, spoon & leveled) cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the frosting:

113 gm (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
360 gm (3 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract*
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons milk
Food coloring, optional
Sprinkles for decorating

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Instructions

To make the cookies:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and vegetable oil together on medium speed until homogenous, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and powdered sugar and beat on medium-low speed until combined and creamy, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add in the egg and beat until fully incorporated. Next, add in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and sour cream, and mix to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 2 additions, mixing on low speed until the ingredients are just combined.
Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours. Towards the end of your chill time, preheat the oven to 325°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using your hands, roll the chilled dough into balls, about 3 tablespoons each (TIP: I like to do this by weight to ensure that each cookie is the same size, usually about 50 gm of dough for each cookie). Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing 3″ apart. Using the palm of your hand, gently flatten each ball of dough into 1/2″ thickness (TIP: lightly flour your hand if the dough is sticky).
Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops of the cookies appear dry. Be careful not to overbake these. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, and milk. Turn the mixer on low speed at first until the ingredients just come together, then increase to high speed and beat until the frosting is smooth, about 1 minute. Add in the food coloring, if using, and mix to combine. Beat the frosting on low speed for 30 seconds to remove any excess air.
Pipe or spread a generous amount of frosting onto the cooled cookies**. Top with sprinkles and gently press the sprinkles into the frosting to adhere. Enjoy!

Notes

*Vanilla extract: If you want the frosting to be pure white, be sure to use clear vanilla extract.

**Pro-tip on frosting cookies: I like to pipe the frosting onto the cookies using a medium to large plain, round piping tip (I use an Ateco #804). Then gently smooth with a small offset spatula.

Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature.