I think it’s safe to say I have a slight sugar cookie obsession. If you’ve been following my blog you’ve likely noticed by now. But really, who doesn’t love frosted sugar cookies? I mean how can you not love them? The only people that don’t are liars, I’m just kidding everyone is entitled to their own personal opinion. But those of you that don’t like them, well lets just say we probably don’t have much in common =).
I know I’ve already posted a sugar cookie recipe, well that’s old news. Those are good, but these are better. These are so soft, so fluffy, so tender. Basically they melt in your mouth dreamy.
So, you may be asking, what is that makes these special? To answer that, it’s a combination of things. The texture is amazing thanks to the cake flour and cornstarch. Don’t substitute all-purpose flour for the cake flour or your cookie will end up heavy and dense (compared to what you get with the cake flour, besides you’d have to adjust the portions anyway because cake flour is lighter). I know cake flour is more expensive than all-purpose flour but sometimes its worth it, in this case it’s definitely worth it. The combination of butter and vegetable shortening also helps the texture, especially when it’s whipped to fluffy perfection. I got the inspiration to use egg plus egg white along with the almond extract from white cake. This is one cookie that is meant to be a bit cake-y, it gives it that amazing, pillow-y as clouds bite.
If you like the Lofthouse style cookies from the store, trust me you’re going to want to try these. I think these far outdo those. Those almost taste like plastic to me, good texture but weird taste. I even like these more than my old favorite from the local bakery. These are my new favorite! Enjoy and share!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup all vegetable shortening (unflavored), at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 recipe Vanilla Frosting, recipe follows
- 1/3 cup salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 - 3 Tbsp half-and-half
- food coloring, optional
Directions
- Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, then whisk it just a few times, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, on medium speed, whip together butter, shortening and sugar until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in egg and mix until combine, then add egg white, vanilla and almond extract and mix until combine. With mixer running, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combine. Transfer dough to an airtight container and refrigerate 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375 during the last 10 minutes of refrigeration.
- Scoop dough out a scant 1/4 cup at a time and roll into a ball. Place dough ball on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle top lightly with flour, then using something flat and smooth (such as the storage container lid), press and evenly flatten dough to 1/2" thick (so you should have about a 2 2/3" - 2 3/4 " circular cookie). Transfer flattened dough to a Silpat or buttered cookie sheet and repeat process with remaining dough (you'll have to use 2 cookie sheets). Bake in preheated oven 9 - 11 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Cool completely then frost with Vanilla Frosting (note that frosting begins to set quickly so if you are adding sprinkles, sprinkle each cookie immediately after frosting it, don't frost the whole batch of cookies then try to sprinkle them because the sprinkles wont stick).
- Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, whip until frosting is smooth and fluffy. Mix in food coloring if desired (note: I finally figured out how to get a good pink with your average grocery store food coloring, I put like 8-10 drops red and the faintest amount of blue - be careful if you do this though, it's no where near a full drop. Basically you'd want to touch it to your clean finger and then swipe it in. Random tip but thought I'd share, I never like the hot pink hue I used to get. The tiny bit of blue just tones and cools it down a bit). It's also fun to color coordinate and frost and sprinkle these cookie according to the nearest holiday.
- Recipe Source: Cooking Classy
Laureen: Jaclyn, these look so good. I love making sugar cookies as well, so I will have to give this recipe a try. Do you know how royal icing would hold up on these? August 23, 2012 at 5:52pm
Sylvie: These look delicious! You can actually buy cookies like this here in New Zealand called 100s and 1000s, although I bet these taste better! August 23, 2012 at 6:33pm
sally @ sallys baking addiction: No wonder those are so puffy and soft! CAke flour and cornstarch works wonders. Plus, using part shortening/butter obviously helps too! A PERFECT soft, thick sugar cookie. I can’t stand the hard crunchy ones, eww! Beautiful pics, as always too :) August 24, 2012 at 3:24am
Sarah: Do you think it would be fine to substitute butter for the shortening? August 24, 2012 at 6:05am
Jaclyn: Thanks Sally =)!
Laureen – I can’t say for sure how royal icing would hold up on these because I haven’t tried, but I think it’s more of a frosting cookie. The ones with royal icing seem to be a little bit drier and have a sturdier structure. You could always test it on one cookie though to see how it would turn out.
Sarah – yes all butter would be fine but you won’t get quite the same texture and fluff you get with just a little bit of shortening. I love all butter cookies myself but by using only a 1/4 cup in this recipe you don’t even notice it’s there. Enjoy! August 24, 2012 at 12:09pm
Averie @ Averie Cooks: Jaclyn – they look stunning and amazing and you’re making me hungry, as usual! August 24, 2012 at 5:31pm
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious: Wow, this looks absolutely sinful! I can’t wait to try it – my niece would love this vibrant pink! August 24, 2012 at 6:21pm
ally: how pretty, pink & perfectly precious!
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.ca/ August 25, 2012 at 8:42am
Angela @ AnotherBitePlease: These look perfect…perfectly delicous. Can not go wrong with a frosted sugar cookie. I can’t wait to make. August 25, 2012 at 8:38pm
Anonymous: Does the frosting set/harden enough that I can stack the cookies in a container for traveling? If not, could I achieve that by replacing some of the butter with shortening? August 27, 2012 at 11:15am
Chiropractor St Charles: i love sugar cookies!!! August 27, 2012 at 6:03pm
Anonymous: How long do you think these will these keep in an airtight container? August 29, 2012 at 9:41am
Jaclyn: Anonymous – for 2 – 3 days would be my recommendation. They are best the first day but day 2 and 3 they are still really good. August 29, 2012 at 5:25pm
Anonymous: Can I use this recipe with the chocolate sugar cookies with PB frosting? I’m guessing just add the cocoa powder right? September 12, 2012 at 5:51pm
Jaclyn: Anonymous – yes I think that would be great, I would say omit 1/2 cup of the flour and replace it with 1/2 cup cocoa. I would probably omit the almond extract too. I may even swap out the egg white for an egg yolk just because chocolate = rich to me. I hope you enjoy! September 12, 2012 at 7:06pm
Brit-El Gibson: Oh. My. Goodness. THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting this. I have an obsession with these too, they are just so good! This recipe looks perfect, can’t wait to try it. Thanks! <3 September 26, 2012 at 3:59pm
Lisa O: These look amazing! Have you tried shipping them? Do they get smashed and not look nearly as lovely when wrapped in saran wrap?
Thanks! October 25, 2012 at 10:53am
Jaclyn: Lisa- I wouldn’t recommend shipping them because they are kind of a delicate cookie and they’d probably get smashed up. I hope you make some though =). October 25, 2012 at 7:14pm
Kisha: Can’t wait to try! Thanks for sharing! :) November 9, 2012 at 9:46am
Anonymous: Do they have to sit in the fridge for two hours or can I skip that? I made them and they are delicious! Didn’t last more then a couple hours in my house. Thank you! November 18, 2012 at 4:09pm
Jaclyn: Anonymous – the 2 hour refrigeration is just to make the dough easier to work with. If you didn’t refrigerate it it would likely be to sticky to work with. Thanks for your comment, glad you enjoyed! November 20, 2012 at 12:30pm
Anonymous: Thank you so very much for this recipe!!! I was spending so much money buying cookies like these at the bakery for my kids. I made these recipe for the kids over the Thanksgiving Holiday and they loved them! Again, thank you so very much!!! November 27, 2012 at 8:44pm
Roxanne Gangstad: I want a soft sugar cookie like these but how can I incorporate a box sugar cookie mix? December 7, 2012 at 3:21pm
Jaclyn: Hi Roxanne – I wouldn’t recommend adding in a box of sugar cookie mix, I think it would ruin them =). I don’t like the box mixes very much so you may be asking the wrong person =). I think it would just change the texture and flavor entirely. I hope you do try these out though! December 8, 2012 at 10:04pm
Jody M: Hi- do you think these will freeze well, minus the frosting? I, too LOVE sugar cookies but can only bake on the weekend and need to make batches for closer to the holiday-I assume I can make them smaller if needed. Can’t wait to try! December 8, 2012 at 2:50pm
Jaclyn: Hi Jody – I think they should freeze okay, I always say fresh is best but these should freeze just as well as any other cookie (unfrosted of course =) I hope you enjoy them! December 11, 2012 at 11:26pm
Anonymous: Can you roll the dough and use cookie cutters to shape them? December 17, 2012 at 10:47am
Jaclyn: Yes you definitely can but keep in mind that they will fluff and not hold their shape perfectly once baked due to the baking powder in them. I prefer this cookie for a frosted version then for one to cut into shapes and cover with icing I prefer this one:
http://cookingclassy.blogspot.com/2012/12/iced-sugar-cookies.html?utm_source=bp_recent&utm-medium=gadget&utm_campaign=bp_recent
It has no leavening agent so the cookies hold their cut out shape really well. They are delicious too! December 17, 2012 at 5:02pm
Averie @ Averie Cooks: I happen to love the pink, sprinkles, AND the fact that this recipe makes 1 dozen. Ive seen many recipes for Lofthouse style sugar cookies that start out with like 6 cups flour. Gulp.
Pinning (and ziplisting) – love these! :) December 23, 2012 at 4:39pm
Jaclyn: Thanks for the pin and the add to ziplist Averie! December 23, 2012 at 5:46pm
Heather: These were so awesome! Thank-you! December 29, 2012 at 5:15pm
Jaclyn: I’m so glad you enjoyed them Heather =)! Thanks for your comment! December 30, 2012 at 12:46pm
Soft Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting | Heather Homemade: [...] slightly from Cooking Classy Makes 12 Jumbo size Cookies The recipe below is for Vanilla Buttercream, but feel free to [...] December 30, 2012 at 6:15am
Chelsea: OMG! I made these 12/31/12. This is my new favorite sugar cookie! I just added some almond extract to the frosting because I love it so much! January 1, 2013 at 1:27pm
Jaclyn: Chelsea, I’m so glad they are your favorite too =)! I seriously could put almond extract in everything, I love the stuff! There is nothing quite like it. Thanks for your comment! January 2, 2013 at 8:03pm
Sarah: Do these freeze well? February 10, 2013 at 1:42pm
Sarah: Nevermind question has already been answered in above comments. February 10, 2013 at 2:24pm
Rachel: I’m making 3 batches of your frosting for my sons class (they’re decorating sugar cookies for a Valentines day party). The party is on Thursday but the only time I have to do this is Tuesday….will the frosting keep that long and does it need to be refrigerated? February 11, 2013 at 8:11pm
Jaclyn: Rachel – yeah the frosting should be fine if you keep it in an airtight container in the fridge then let it come to room temp before frosting the cookies. Hope they are enjoyed =). February 12, 2013 at 11:40pm
Julie Simon: Great frosting! Just made some for my valentine cookies and it tasted great! Super easy too! Thanks for the recipe! February 15, 2013 at 12:02pm
Brittin: Perfect snow day recipe and treat. I made these yesterday after returning home because of the snow storm. They are soft and sweet just the thing I was looking for. Thank you for this wonderful recipe, and I am looking forward in trying many more from the site. February 22, 2013 at 9:06pm
Jaclyn: Brittin – so glad you enjoyed these =) and I hope you continue to love what you try! Thanks so much for your comment! February 22, 2013 at 10:13pm
Kris: Will the vanilla frosting recipe work on snickerdoodle cookies (minus the sugar/cinnamon coating)? March 21, 2013 at 11:58am
Jaclyn: Yes I think it would work great! Hope you enjoy! March 23, 2013 at 11:26pm
Lauren: Made these cookies back in December but never posted a comment on them. Very good, followed recipe exactly and cookies came out cakey & soft. However, I found that rolling each cookie in a ball, flattening on a floured surface etc. took up a lot of time. For next time I might try rolling the dough out and cutting with a large biscuit cutter. Do you think that would work? May 1, 2013 at 3:06pm
Jaclyn: Yeah it works fine, I also made the same recipe into cut out cookies here:
http://www.cookingclassy.com/2013/01/lofthouse-style-sugar-cookies-rolled-version/
I’m glad you like them Lauren! May 1, 2013 at 6:29pm