These snowflake sugar cookies are soft, cakey, buttercream frosted loft house-style sugar cookies. They're ultra soft, buttery, with an incredible light and fluffy real butter buttercream. These lofthouse style cookies have the best soft and luxurious texture without needing to use cornstarch, and both the flavor and texture are the closest to the real deal out there! But even tastier because they have real butter and real buttercream. They're so easy to decorate and create super festive holiday cookies.
The buttercream crusts over so that you can stack them, making these the perfect cookies for Christmas cookie boxes. I made these cookies for my Nutcracker Christmas cookie boxes.
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❄ Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Soft and cakey sugar cookies: These sugar cookies are soft and cakey thanks to a special ingredient (not cornstarch).
- The most similar to lofthouse cookies: I've perfected these cookies to have the same texture and flavor to the beloved lofthouse cookies. They're much better than a lot of the other recipes out there!
- Buttercream frosting: Arguably the best tasting cookie frosting out there. This frosting is ultra light, airy, and so delicious.
- Snowflake decorations: A simple and easy to recreate piped snowflake on top of glittering sugar makes these cookies really festive for Christmas and the holidays.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
- Cake flour: This is what gives these cookies the best soft and cakey texture. All purpose flour doesn't give you the same results! Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
- Sour cream: Adds moisture and makes the cookies tender and fluffy. The acid in the sour cream reacts with the baking soda to create a lovely cakey texture.
- Egg and egg yolk: Adds the perfect amount of chew to the cookie.
- Artificial vanilla extract and almond extract: A combination of both of these extracts creates a flavor that is the most similar to the original lofthouse cookies.
- Pure vanilla extract: I have this on hand and added some in for a more elevated flavor. This is optional but it takes these cookies from good to gourmet.
- Baking powder and baking soda: These add lift and rise to the cookies, creating fluffy and cakey cookies.
- Unsalted butter: I prefer using unsalted butter for baking and adding salt separately. If you use salted butter I recommend omitting the salt so that the cookies aren't too salty.
- Powdered sugar: You need powdered or icing sugar for the buttercream icing.
- Heavy whipping cream: I find that adding a touch of whipping cream creates the best, fluffiest buttercream. If you don't have any on hand you can use milk or even table cream.
👩🍳 How to make soft lofthouse sugar cookies
Cakey sugar cookie dough step by step
Step 1: In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine butter, sugar, and salt. Mix with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
Step 2: Add the egg, egg yolk, sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract to the butter mixture. Mix until light and creamy, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Step 3: Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together
Step 4: Transfer the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper, wrap it up and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Step 5: When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Place the chilled dough on top, dust with more flour, and roll it out to ½" thick with a rolling pin.
Step 6: Cut out 2.5" or 3" circles using a cookie cutter or a glass. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet making sure to leave 2" of space between the cookies because they will puff up and spread.
Step 7: Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the center of the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. They're ready when the bottoms are lightly golden brown and the cookies are puffed.
Step 8: Use a spatula to transfer the cookies onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Continue rolling and cutting cookies until you've baked all of the cookie dough.
Expert tip: You don't want to underbake them because the centers will be unpleasantly gummy. Likewise, you don't want to overbake them or they will dry out.
Decorating snowflake sugar cookies step by step
Step 1: Add the butter into a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Use a paddle attachment to beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl frequently and mix for about 8 minutes.
Step 2: Add the powdered sugar one half cup at a time and mix until light and fluffy.
Step 3: Add salt and vanilla extract to the buttercream, mix until combined. Add whipping cream until the buttercream reaches a thick and fluffy spreadable consistency.
Step 4: Pipe or spread a thick layer of buttercream on each cooled cookie.
Step 5: Sprinkle the surface of the frosted cookies liberally with sprinkles or sanding sugar for a sparkly touch.
Step 6: Use a piping bag or a plastic bag with the tip cut off to pipe snowflakes on top of the sprinkles. Let the frosting set for a few hours to develop a crust on top.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
These soft cookies store really well and are great to make ahead! They stay soft and cakey for a long time. You can leave the cookies out at room temperature for up to 2 days in a container . Store them in an airtight container or bag for up to 6 days in the fridge.
❔ What makes lofthouse cookies so soft?
Most copycat recipes will say that it's the cornstarch. But I personally strongly detest the flavor and texture of cornstarch and it's not accurate to the original. So I tested the recipe using cornstarch and all purpose flour, and created another batch using cake flour instead. Cake flour should have been an obvious choice because of the finer texture and smaller protein content creates a lighter and fluffier texture that is what most recipes are trying to achieve using cornstarch. The cake flour version had a much more pleasant mouthfeel and more accurate texture to the original. Plus there wasn't an unpleasant cornstarch flavor! Less chalky than with the cornstarch, and more soft and fluffy.
I strongly recommend that you try this soft snowflake sugar cookies recipe out using cake flour. It really does make such a big difference!
📖 Recipe FAQs
You definitely can. Substitute the flour with 1:1 gluten free flour. Gluten free flour will also create the soft and fluffy texture that you're looking for in this recipe.
No, these aren't your classic cut out sugar cookies. These sugar cookies are almost identical (but better) to store-bought lofthouse sugar cookies. These have the flavor of regular sugar cookies but are much softer, lighter, and thicker. They work even better with the frosting because the cookies themselves aren't overly sweet and rich.
I stuck with a classic airy buttercream because it crusts over which makes it possible to stack the cookies when storing them without ruining the snowflake decorations. If you prefer a different t
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📖 Recipe
Easy Soft Snowflake Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon artificial vanilla extract or white vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 ½ cups cake flour 300g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon artificial vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream or milk
- ¼ cup sprinkles sparkling sanding sugar and/or nonpariels
Instructions
Cookie Dough
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine butter, sugar, and salt. Mix with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Add the egg, egg yolk, sour cream, vanilla extracts, and almond extract to the butter mixture. Mix until light and creamy, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, ¼ cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon artificial vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together2 ½ cups cake flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Transfer the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper, wrap it up and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 355 °F (180 °C). Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Place the chilled dough on top, dust with more flour, and roll it out to ½" thick with a rolling pin.
- Cut out 2.5" or 3" circles using a cookie cutter or a glass. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet making sure to leave 2" of space between the cookies because they will puff up and spread.
- Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the center of the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. They're ready when the bottoms are lightly golden brown and the cookies are puffed. You don't want to underbake them because the centers will be unpleasantly gummy. Likewise, you don't want to overbake them or they will dry out.
- Use a spatula to transfer the cookies onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Continue rolling and cutting cookies until you've used up the cookie dough.
Buttercream Frosting
- Add the butter into a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Use a paddle attachment to beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl frequently and mix for about 8 minutes.1 cup unsalted butter
- Add the powdered sugar one half cup at a time and mix until light and fluffy.4 cups powdered sugar
- Add salt and vanilla extract to the buttercream, mix until combined. Add whipping cream until the buttercream reaches a thick and fluffy spreadable consistency.¼ teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon artificial vanilla extract, 2-4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- Pipe or spread a thick layer of buttercream on each cooled cookie. Sprinkle the surface of the frosted cookies liberally with sprinkles or sanding sugar for a sparkly touch.¼ cup sprinkles
- Use a piping bag or a plastic bag with the tip cut off to pipe snowflakes on top of the sprinkles. Let the frosting set for a few hours to develop a crust on top.
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