Organic Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
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Just like you remember from the grocery store bakery; but these soft cakey sugar cookies with pink icing and rainbow sprinkles are made with completely organic ingredients! These Organic Lofthouse Sugar Cookies will satisfy your nostalgic craving!
If you're looking for more cookies, be sure to try my Olive Oil Shortbread Cookies, Organic Thin Mint Cookies, or my Organic Cosmic Brownie Cookies.
Table of Contents
Organic Lofthouse cookies are a wholesome twist on the classic frosted sugar cookies, offering a soft, pillowy texture and a rich layer of creamy frosting. Made with organic ingredients, these cookies retain the nostalgic charm of traditional Lofthouse cookies while using organic ingredients you can feel good about indulging in. The organic flours, cane sugar, and natural food colorings used in these cookies ensure that every bite is both delicious and free from artificial additives!
These cookies are often topped with colored frostings and sprinkles. But, I made these Organic Lofthouse Cookies with the iconic pastel pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles (free of artificial colors of course!). But, you can switch these up for any holiday you like, making different colors or adding different sprinkles. These cookies are perfect for celebrations, as their colorful and festive appearance can be customized to fit any occasion. And, everyone will go nuts for this nostalgic treat while enjoying ingredients you feel good about!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Soft & Pillowy: You will love this version of Organic Lofthouse Sugar Cookies because these are soft cakey sugar cookies with a pillowy texture, and they’re topped with pink icing! What’s not to love? When you’re craving that nostalgic soft and cakey sugar cookie that’s covered in icing, then look no further.
- Melt In Your Mouth: These Organic Lofthouse Sugar Cookies have a melt in your mouth texture. They are buttery and soft baked, as opposed to crispy or chewy.
- Naturally Colorful: I top these soft cakey sugar cookies with pink icing that is naturally colored with plant based dyes and rainbow sprinkles so there are no artificial colors in this cookie! Make these cookies instead of picking them up at the grocery store, as the ingredients in them are so much better!
Ingredients
- Butter: I use Organic Valley Salted Butter.
- Cane Sugar: I use organic cane sugar only as these are classic sugar cookies.
- Vanilla Extract: My favorite is Simply Organic.
- Eggs: I use organic large eggs. Using eggs that are too small can result in dry cookies, eggs that are too large can cause cookies to flatten.
- Sour Cream: You'll need organic sour cream for the cookies, this gives them their extra moist and cake-like texture.
- All Purpose Flour: My favorite is Cairnspring Mills.
- Baking Powder: I use baking powder since there is no acid in these cookies. For more info on leavening agents, be sure to check out my post the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder.
- Salt: I use a fine sea salt in the cookie dough.
- Vegetable Shortening: Using organic vegetable shortening in the icing really gives these the “grocery store” sugar cookie vibe as opposed to butter. Butter is more flavorful, making a richer frosting. But, using vegetable shortening is like a very blank canvas, allowing the sugar to take center stage so you get that iconic sugary icing.
- Powdered Sugar: You'll need organic powdered sugar for the icing.
- French Vanilla Coffee Creamer: I use a little bit of organic French vanilla coffee creamer in the icing, this gives it depth of flavor, so it's not so one note. If you don't have this, you can use heavy whipping cream.
- Pink Dye: I use Suncore Foods Organic Pink Dye for the icing. You can also use organic beet powder, it works just the same!
- Sprinkles: I top these with naturally colored rainbow sprinkles that are made with plant based dyes.
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Tools Needed
- Scale: I always recommend to use a digital food scale for the best results.
- Stand Mixer: I use my stand mixer for ease, but you can also use a hand mixer if you want.
- Baking Sheets: You'll need two half sheet pans to bake the cookies.
- Parchment Paper: My favorite nontoxic parchment paper is Kana. I always use parchment paper for ease and I think cookies bake best with it.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2
To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix on low until combined, then turn mixer to speed 2 or 4 and mix for 3 to 5 minutes until the butter is light in color and fluffy.
Add the egg, sour cream, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined.
Step 3
Using your hands (or a cookie scoop!) form the dough into 18 balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the middles are set and the bottoms are lightly browned. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
Step 4
To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the shortening, powdered sugar, pink dye, and creamer. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high and whip for 1 to 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through to combine the dye completely.
Using a butter knife, frost each cookie and sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles.
Baker's Tips
- Order your organic pink dye and naturally colored rainbow sprinkles ahead of time. Many grocery stores don’t carry these items, so order them now so you have on hand when your craving hits.
- Make sure your butter is soft. I like to leave it out on the counter overnight and let it soften naturally at room temperature for the best results.
- When cookies come out of the oven, use a cookie cutter or glass and put it around each cookie and swirl so that the cookie becomes perfectly round. This is a great trick to do right when the cookies come out of the oven for perfectly round cookies. It can also help cookies become a bit thicker, which I love!
- Allow sugar cookies to cool completely before icing. If you frost cookies when they are warm, the icing will melt and that is not a good texture.
- Add sprinkles on top right after you frost each cookie, this will help them stick to the frosting best.
- Place the whole cookie sheet in the freezer after they are frosted. This will allow frosting to set and then allow you to stack cookies without them sticking.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge. These cookies should be refrigerated because there is cream in the frosting.
FAQ's
Cornstarch is a stabilizer, so it works to thicken or stabilize foods. In cookies, this can help with cookie spread, but it also can create a chewier texture in cookies. This is why I use it in this recipe. If you don't have it, then feel free to omit it. If you do this, just be sure to do a test cookie for the size of the dough before baking. You may need to make a smaller dough ball to prevent cookie spreading or you can always refrigerate the cookie dough as well if your cookies are spreading too much.
Yes! If you're feeling blue, yellow, orange… or anything else, feel free to make the frosting any color you want! I love using Suncore Foods Organic Dyes as these are the only organic plant based dyes on the market right now. You can also omit the food coloring for the frosting and leave them white as well.
Soft and chewy cookies with icing on top still need to be stored in an airtight container. So, it's best to allow the icing to set before storing or stacking. I do this by placing all the cookies on a baking sheet (do not stack them, just a single layer). Then I freeze the entire baking sheet overnight, this prevents the cookies from drying out if left on the counter as I'm in an incredibly dry climate. Then, I will store them in a tupperware and refrigerate them. You can also put small pieces of parchment paper in between each cookie before storing for extra security!
Craving More?
Organic Lofthouse Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Dough
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 170 grams cane sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 large egg
- 57 grams sour cream
- 255 grams all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Icing
- 170 grams vegetable shortening
- 354 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 3 tablespoons French vanilla creamer (or heavy whipping cream)
- ½ teaspoon Suncore Foods Pink Dye
Topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix on low until combined, then turn mixer to speed 2 or 4 and mix for 3 to 5 minutes until the butter is light in color and fluffy.
- Add the egg, sour cream, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined.
- Using your hands (or a cookie scoop!) form the dough into 18 balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the middles are set and the bottoms are lightly browned. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets.
- To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the shortening, powdered sugar, pink dye, and creamer. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high and whip for 1 to 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through to combine the dye completely.
- Using a butter knife, frost each cookie and sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
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So good!