The soft frosted sugar cookies from the grocery store are delicious, but you know how they are a little fake tasting? Well, these don’t have that element. They are soft and full of buttery rich, vanilla flavor.
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One of my readers, Eboni B. said after making this recipe:
“Literally the best sugar cookies I’ve ever made! Thanks so much for the recipe. Making them again right now for the second night in a row.”
Another reader, Heather H. said
“I rolled these out and cut them, and decorated with royal icing with sprinkles and they turned out amazing. They were for a fall wedding and the bride STILL talks about these.”
Homemade Frosted Soft Sugar Cookies
Today I have a homemade version of those soft frosted sugar cookies from Lofthouse that you can get at grocery stores. This recipe isn’t exactly a copycat because these are better!
Yup, you heard me, better!
I just made these sugar cookies with my little one helping me, and she had a blast decorating the cookies with icing, and they were just oh so soft and chewy. Mmmm, I might need to sneak another one right now!
Why you’ll love making this Recipe for Sugar Cookies:
- They are easy to make. This recipe is simple and straightforward. You can make the cookies with ingredients that are already in your kitchen.
- They’re versatile. You can decorate the cookies with your favorite frosting flavor, color, and sprinkles.
- They are a fun activity to do with kids. Grab the kids. They’ll love making sweet memories with you in the kitchen.
Frosted Cookies Ingredients and Cost
Per Serving Cost: $0.38
Recipe Cost: $9.02
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour – $0.86
- 4 teaspoons baking powder – $0.60
- ¾ teaspoon table salt – $0.01
- 1 ½ cups butter – $2.40
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar – $0.35
- 3 large eggs – $0.30
- 1 Tablespoon + 5 teaspoons vanilla extract – $2.47
- 5 cups powdered sugar – $1.45
- ⅓ cup butter – $0.50
- 7-8 Tablespoons milk – $0.08
NOTE: The recipe prices are calculated by using grocery store websites. The actual cost of the recipe will vary depending on what ingredients you already have.
Recommended tools for making this Recipe for Sugar Cookies
- mixing bowls
- stand mixer
- baking sheet with a wire rack
- silicone baking mat
- large cookie scoop
- flour sifter
- offset spatula
- pink food coloring
- rainbow sprinkles
How to make Sugar Cookies with Icing
- First, make the cookies by mixing the dry ingredients and set aside. Next, beat the butter and sugar together until soft. Then, beat in eggs one at a time and then add in the vanilla.
- Next, add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Then cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Then, preheat the oven to 350 ̊ F and prepare the cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
- The next step is to scoop three tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Place on prepared cookie sheets and flatten the ball slightly with your palm. Repeat until dough is gone. Finally, bake the cookies for about 10 minutes and then cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Now you can make the frosting by first, mixing the powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and milk together. Mix until smooth, adding in additional milk as needed. To finish, mix in the food coloring of your choice.
- Spread frosting onto the sugar cookies and add any desired sprinkles.
Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe tips and variations
- After rolling the dough in a ball, compress the dough slightly with the palm of your hand to flatten the dough just before baking.
- Space the dough balls 2-3 inches apart on your baking sheet because they’ll spread!
- I like to scoop the cookie dough using my 3-tablespoon scoop. Using the scoop makes the sugar cookies uniform in size. Plus, it helps ensure that you get 24 cookies from this recipe!
- This recipe makes 24 huge cookies. You can halve the recipe if that suits your needs better.
- You can change the frosting and sprinkle colors to match any holiday or party theme to make these year round.
Serving Ideas for these Soft Sugar Cookies
This sugar cookie recipe is the best because the cookie is soft and so versatile. You can tailor the frosting and sprinkles for any holiday, party, occasion, etc.
Think purple frosting with orange and black sprinkles for Halloween. Red frosting with green and white sprinkles for Christmas. For Valentine’s Day, you can do pink frosting with red and white sprinkles. Catch my drift here? The options are endless!
How to store Sugar Cookies with Icing
SERVE: You can keep these out for about 6 hours before they need to be properly stored to keep them from getting stale.
STORE: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days. Place pieces of parchment or wax paper between layers of cookies to keep them from sticking together.
FREEZE: Place the cookies on a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze until frozen soil, about 1 hour. Once they’re frozen solid, transfer them to a freezer-safe container. Place pieces of parchment or wax paper between layers of cookies to keep them from sticking together. Frozen this way, they will keep for 2-3 months.
THAW: Thaw at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe FAQs
Air is the main culprit for making soft sugar cookies go hard. It is best to store the cookies in an airtight container to avoid this.
You can also try adding a piece of bread in with the cookies. The idea is that the bread will absorb the air, therefore, causing the cookies to stay soft and fresh tasting.
To help keep these sugar cookies soft, you should always store them in an airtight container. Because they are frosted sugar cookies, the best way to store them is to set the cookies right side up next to each other in your container.
After you have one layer ready, place a piece of wax paper over the cookies, and then repeat the process until you have all of your cookies inside the container.
To pack these soft sugar cookies, you will want to wait until they are completely cool. This method will help keep the cookies from sticking together.
One tip if you are using a cardboard box is to first line it with foil or plastic wrap. This method will help keep the cookies fresh. Then follow the steps above for storing the cookies to layer the cookies within the container.
You can change up the recipe and add sprinkles into the mixture before baking. Doing this will change the taste of the soft sugar cookies slightly. Otherwise, you can add the sprinkles on top after frosting them to add a colorful touch.
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Soft Sugar Cookies with Icing
Video
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- stand mixer
- baking sheet with a wire rack
- Silicone baking mat
- large cookie scoop
- flour sifter
- offset spatula
Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIES:
- 4 ½ Cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
- 1 ½ Cups butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ Cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 5 Teaspoons vanilla extract
FOR THE FROSTING:
- 5 Cups powdered sugar sifted
- ⅓ cup butter melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 7-8 Tablespoons milk plus more as needed
- pink food coloring
- rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
MAKE THE COOKIES:
- In a large bowl, add flour, baking powder, and salt, and whisk together to combine.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until soft and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Add vanilla and mix until just combined.
- Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined and no flour pockets remain.
- Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Move the oven rack to the middle position, and preheat to 350˚ F.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set them aside.
- Scoop 3 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Place on prepared cookie sheets and flatten ball slightly with the palm of the hand. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing cookies at least 2-3 inches apart.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time and bake about 10-12 minutes or just until set, and do not overbake! The edges of the cookies will be lightly browned.
- Cool cookies on cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
MAKE THE FROSTING:
- Add powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and milk in a medium bowl.
- Whisk until smooth, whisk in additional milk as necessary, 1 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
- Color with pink food coloring if desired.
TO FINISH:
- Frost cookies by adding a dollop of frosting to the center of the cookie, and use offset spatula or spoon to smooth out to edges.
- If frosting begins to thicken as you decorate, continue to whisk in very small amounts of milk to keep it workable.
- Top with sprinkles if desired.
STORE THE COOKIES:
- Let frosting set for 2 hours before storing.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
Nutrition
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Never under estimate the power of a cookie scoop! It was the first baking tool I bought when I moved out of my parent’s house and now I have multiple sizes.
So delicious looking soft frosted sugar cookies, very suitable to prepare for small children.
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
These look a great sweet treat for when the kids come home from school. They look so pretty too
Great recipe, such a nice project to do with children. My boys love homemade cookies
I LOVE these cookies…. I have been making them for the past few years and they are wonderful!!! However, my husband just informed me that he prefers a “chewy” sugar cookie…. do you think they would be chewier if I lessened the baking powder??
Thank you!!!!
No, unfortunately if you want a chewy sugar cookie you’ll have to go for an entirely different recipe. Try my food blogger friend’s recipe here: http://www.tastesoflizzyt.com/chewy-sugar-cookies/
Literally the best sugar cookies I’ve ever made! Thanks so much for the recipe. Making them again right now for the second night in a row 🙂
Woot, woot! I’m SO glad you liked them, thanks for stopping by to let me know! 🙂
I’m out of milk and don’t really want to go to the store… Can you use half and half instead of milk?
I think that would work. Let me know how they turn out!
family are big chocolate lovers so I made these and then I made my homemade chocolate frosting to top IG . They turned out great ! I think these are better than Lofthouse thanks so much for the recipe !
You’re so welcome! I think I need to try these with chocolate frosting, sounds delicious!
The frosting looks great to me! I need to try this frosting on cupcakes. Thanks for sharing.
oh my gosh!!! I love the store bought ones so if these are even better… omg!!! I am really excited to make these(:
I can’t seem to get the icing thick like yours looks :0(
Hmmm, maybe your butter was too soft? Try adding a little more powdered sugar.
I don’t know what Lofthouse is, but these look divine. I’m making ’em!
They’re the brand of those round, frosted sugar cookies you can get in your grocery store’s bakery. Thanks for stopping by!
These look delicious! My kids would love these!
These are my favorite kind of cookies!
How many cookies does this recipe make?
Hi Hannah, I just updated the recipe, but it makes about 24 large cookies. Enjoy!
Thank you for this recipe! I love these cookies but I have an allergy to red dye #40 & can’t eat most colored frostings or any sprinkles 🙁 Thanks to you, I can now make my own & leave out the color & sprinkles. They won’t be as pretty, but they will be sooo good! Thank you again!
Yay, so glad this recipe will work for you. I personally feel they’re better than the ones your buy at the store. Enjoy!
The frosting was really runny with 7 T milk and it’s super sweet.
My family loves these soft cookies!!! but I hate buying them because they have sooooo many unnecessary ingredients! these look awesome and i’m thinking of subbing with coconut flour. thanks for a great recipe!
These cookies so soft and sweet it melts like butter they are very (^_^)
i love these cookies they are soo goood they just melts in my mouth.