Soft and Perfect Valentine’s Lofthouse Cookies
We’re back with our FINAL DAY of my “10 Cookies for Valentine’s Day” series with Cookie #10!!! My Soft and Perfect Lofthouse Cookies are everything I could have dreamed of for the quintessential Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookie! The most tender cookie base with a dreamy pink almond buttercream on top, these are perfect for next week or just about anytime you’re ready for a beyond mouthwatering soft cookie fix.
For a full list of cookies on my website, including all the other 9 Valentine’s Day cookies, click here to see all of them!
First, let’s dive into these Soft and Perfect Valentine’s Lofthouse Cookies
What’s a lofthouse cookie?
Lofthouse cookies might look pretty familiar from those brightly frosted and sprinkles cookies you can find in nearly every grocery store bakery! They’re like a sugar cookie, but with the addition of BOTH baking powder and baking soda + sour cream right into the cookie dough, they have an almost cake-like texture. These are much bigger than the grocery store ones, so if you’d like more servings, or for them to be smaller, just use a smaller cookie cutter.
How to make lofthouse cookies:
For the cookies, you’ll need to make the dough in advance. Yep, this one needs to be chilled, so plan ahead, and make these an hour in advance. They need time to chill for that beautiful soft texture.
Ingredients for lofthouse cookies
- Butter – Unsalted, and slightly softened at room temperature.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar.
- Egg – Room temperature. Large whole egg.
- Vanilla – pure vanilla.
- Almond Extract – use a little bit, it will go a long way!
- All Purpose Flour – make sure to measure correctly.
- Baking Soda – fresh is best!
- Baking Powder – same! Make sure it’s fresh!
- Sour Cream – I used full-fat sour cream, and at room temperature.
- Salt – just a little will do.
Then follow the directions below:
Make the dough.
Chill the dough. I wrap mine up in plastic wrap in a disc shape for easy rolling later.
Roll out the dough until it’s 1/4 inch thick.
Cut out circle shapes out in the dough, then roll out the scraps and cut again.
Bake the dough, then let cool on a cooling rack.
How to make the buttercream frosting
You’ll need the following ingredients:
- Butter – unsalted and left out at room temp for about 10 minutes to slightly soften.
- Salt – just a pinch!
- Vanilla – use the good stuff 🙂
- Almond Extract – a little goes a long way, so go easy!
- Heavy Cream – this will help control the consistency of the buttercream.
- Powdered Sugar – Keep the mixer on low speed when adding this in so it doesn’t fly everywhere.
- Soft Pink or Peony Gel Coloring – find it here.
Whip up the butter until it’s light and fluffy.
Add in the salt, vanilla, extract, and heavy cream and mix it up.
Add in the powdered sugar slowly with the mixer on low speed.
Increase the speed to high and whip for 2 minutes for a fluffy soft texture. Add in the gel coloring to desired hue of pink.
Pipe on the buttercream in a flat swirl, then spread flat with a angled icing spatula.
Sprinkle on the sprinkles, and enjoy! Here’s where I found something similar to use.
How to store these cookies
In a large tupperware with a tight fitting lid, or in a large gallon ziploc bag sealed shut. They stay soft for quite a few days!
Can I make them smaller?
Yes, just use a smaller circle cookie cutter.
Can I freeze them?
Yes! They can be frozen unfrosted or frosted.
Here’s a video of the process:
As always, I’d love to see your Baking with Blondie inspired bakes! Make sure to tag me @bakingwithblondie or #bakingwithblondie on social media so I can join in on all the fun!
Happy Baking!
xo,
Mandy
Get the Recipe: Soft and Perfect Valentine’s Lofthouse Cookies
Ingredients
For the Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 whole egg, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pink Almond Buttercream
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, left out of the fridge for 10 minutes
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 small drops Soft Pink Americolor Gel
Extra
- 1 cup Valentine's Day Themed Sprinkles
Instructions
For the Cookies:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they're light, fluffy, and thoroughly combined; about 2-3 minutes.
- While the butter and sugar are creaming together, in a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
- In the stand mixer butter/sugar mixture, add in the egg, sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract and mix until combined.
- Add in the flour and mix on low speed until just combined. Create a circle-shaped disc with the dough, wrap in plastic wrap, then place into the fridge for at least an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prep a cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment paper, set aside.
- Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface or sheet of parchment paper. Cut out 2-3" inch cookies with a cookie cutter and place the circles onto the prepared parchment sheet about 3 inches apart.
- Bake for 7-8 minutes (they should still be pale and not golden around the edges), then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up the butter until it's light and fluffy. Add in the salt, vanilla, almond extract, and heavy cream and mix again.
- Slowly add in the powdered sugar with the mixer speed on low, then whip up on high to add a lighter texture to the buttercream. Add a touch more heavy cream (1 Tablespoon) if needed to smooth/thin it out. Add in the gel coloring to desired hue of pink.
Assembly
- Pipe on a flat swirl of buttercream on each cookies, slightly smooth the buttercream out with an offset icing spatula, then add on a few sprinkles on top.
Store
- Store in an airtight container container for up to a few days for max softness.