These sour cream cookies have that perfect soft and crumbly texture combined with the sweetness of the vanilla frosting.
There are a few cookies I have to force myself to walk by and not purchase when I go grocery shopping. One of the big ones is the Lofthouse cookies. They are soft sugar cookies in clear plastic containers. I know the clear containers are mainly to keep each cookie separated (on account of the frosting) but being able to see the cookies is like torture for me.
But a thought did pop into my head, what if I made those instead? I know, surprising for me, right? Honestly, it took a long time to figure out what those cookies were. The ones in my grocery store are of a generic variety and the name “Lofthouse” was not something I saw before I turned to the internet.
I decided to make the core of these cookies sour cream. I found the idea fascinating. The sour cream gives the cookie a very subtle flavor but, more importantly, the ridiculously soft texture. From start to finish, this was a very interesting cookie to make. It was similar to a lot of other cookies but at the same time, it wasn’t.
Check out the Make section of MCG for more fun recipes like desserts and savory dishes.
Ingredients
For the cookie, the main ingredients are fairly standard although this recipe requires a lot of flour. More than I was expecting anyway. The more interesting ingredients to highlight would be sour cream and almond extract.
Lastly is the cooking frosting which is similar to an American buttercream. But I don’t like homemade American buttercream. Maybe I have never whipped it enough, but the taste of butter is just too prevalent for me. I have gotten around this by switching out the butter for equivalent amounts of vegetable shortening. For this recipe, I go half and half, but I have got 100% shortening before and I think it tastes better.
Process
The Cookie Dough
The first step to making these sour cream cookies is mixing the cookie dough. I did use a stand mixer for this process as it’s easier to whip air into the dough this way. A hand mixer will also work but I just don’t have those arm muscles. The first ingredients to go into the bowl and the butter, sour cream, and sugar. Whisking these few ingredients together for a long time might feel pointless but there is air getting incorporated into the mix, it’s just not always obvious or takes a long time.
Then I added in the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract making sure to scrape down the side and the bottom. I have often found that I will get large butter chunks if I skip scraping down the bowl. The biggest problem area is directly under the mixer paddle as that has the least amount of exposure to the mixing process.
In a large separate bowl, I whisked together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Normally I wouldn’t use a large bowl for this step, but 6 cups of flour is a lot. So much so that I ended up adding the flour to the butter mixture in steps. There was no way that the stand mixer could take all of that at one time.
I decided to go into batches, basically using the cup scoop as a limiter for the size of the batch. One cup at a time gave the flour space to incorporate. I did not want this dough to overmix since I wanted it to be light and airy, I stopped mixing a little bit before everything was fully incorporated and finished mixing by hand. Was this overkill? Maybe but if I’m going to do something, why not be a little crazy?
Shaping and Baking
Then I scooped the dough into 2-inch balls and placed them evenly along the sheet tray. I wanted to chill the cookie dough to help firm up the butter but getting a baking tray into my fridge is a feat in itself. The fridge is on the smaller side, so I feel like I’m playing Olympic Tetris whenever I need a lot of fridge space.
Then it was out of the fridge and straight to the oven! These sour cream cookies are the type that wants to be cooked just right and, on a light, and fluffy side. Overbaking them will result in a chewier texture than what I am trying to achieve.
The Frosting
The sour cream cookies cannot be frosted when they are warm, so it made the most sense to make the frosting while the cookies were cooling. Frosting is both the easiest and hardest thing. It’s easy because all you have to do is whip ingredients together. But it’s hard to get it just right.
Whipping the ingredients in the wrong order can change the texture. Too fast or too slow and the air won’t be incorporated properly. Too little or too much can also have a negative impact. This is one of the components I have always struggled with because the frosting is like Goldilocks – it needs to be just right.
I started by creaming together butter, vegetable shortening, and vanilla. I wanted to make sure everything was thoroughly mixed before adding more ingredients. The butter and the vegetable shortening especially. Then it was time to add the powdered sugar.
To make the least mess possible, I added the powdered sugar in batches. I would put a few tablespoons in and then let everything come together. And then repeat. This process did take a bit of time since frosting a lot of powdered sugar. After this step was complete, I added milk and food coloring. I used pink but any color would work.
Then comes the whipping. I had to let the mixer keep running until the right consistency and flavor had been reached. This comes from really blending the ingredients and getting air into the frosting. Once again, I did stop it too early, so I had to go back and continue mixing everything. Tasting is very important at this step, albeit very sweet.
The last step is spreading the frosting on each cookie and topping it with sprinkles!
Reflections
These cookies were soooo good. They were creamy and had a perfect soft texture. I like how they are somewhere between crumbly and cakey. It’s a category of cookies all on its own. While they are delicious, the effort needed to make them felt a little over the top. Maybe because I don’t like making frosting…. And the biggest downside is that they are very difficult to store. It kind of feels like you should be making the amount you want to eat at that moment.
Lessons
Think About Storage
One thing I discovered when baking these cookies is to think about storage when packing up cookies. These cookies are light and large but they are not dense. If anything, they can be rather airy. So stacking these cookies on top of each other doesn’t work well because they will collapse if anything is put on top of them.
Another thing I didn’t consider is the frosting. Royal icing hardens making it easy to stack without smearing. Frosting? Not so much. I guess that’s why these cookies are displayed upright and separated in the store. I wouldn’t let storage deter me from making something but I want to find the best solution so I can enjoy the bakes that don’t get devoured in one day.
recipe
Sour Cream Cookies
Ingredients
Sour Cream Cookies
- 1 Cup butter softened.
- 1 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 ¾ Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ Teaspoon Almond Extract
- 6 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 ½ Teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
Frosting
- ½ Cup Butter
- ½ Cup Vegetable Shortening
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 5 Tablespoon Milk
- Pink Food Coloring
- Sprinkles as desired
Instructions
Sour Cream Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sour cream, and sugar until smooth, fluffy, and light in color.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix until just combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- One cup at a time, add the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Make sure ingredients are fully combined before adding the next batch of the flour mixture.
- Divide dough into multiple 2-inch (ish) balls and chill for 5 to 10 minutes until firm. Smooth out each ball and press down with a flat surface (i.e., a glass or a scraper).
- Bake cookies for 7-9 minutes. The cookies should be just beginning to set, and the bottoms will be lightly browned. Remove cookies from the baking tray and let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable shortening, and vanilla extract.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar a few tablespoons at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition.
- Add in milk and good coloring and beat until the mixture has become fluffy and smooth.
- Spread onto the cooled cookies and decorate with sprinkles as desired.
- Enjoy!!!
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