This easy recipe makes the best gluten-free soft sugar cookies. Inspired by the famous Lofthouse brand, these cookies are topped with frosting and finished with sprinkles.
Gluten-Free Soft Sugar Cookies
The first time I saw Lofthouse cookies mentioned was on the internet. Probably pinterest. Someone posted a recipe for soft sugar cookies cookies topped with an adorable pink frosting. They looked so good!
The loving way the writer talked about the cookies made me think that the recipe was inspired by sugar cookies offered at some obscure bed and breakfast called “The Lofthouse.” A B&B that serves soft sugar cookies? Sounds idyllic.
Little did I know!
It turns out that”Lofthouse” cookies are those (cheap) sugar cookies sold at almost every American grocery store. Those cookies I’d seen and eaten. I’d just never noticed the brand on the package.
There went my idyllic B&B. (sigh)
I totally understand why lots of copycat recipes show up online for Lofthouse cookies. They’re so good, topped with that soft buttercream frosting, that I find it hard to eat just one.
Gluten-Free Soft Sugar Cookies: Making the Dough
For this recipe, grab some Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend. As you know, I avoided premade gluten-free flour blends for years. Then Bob’s introduced the 1:1 blend and I like it a lot. In fact, I used it for these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, which you guys told me you love. (You have excellent taste because those cookies are the best.)
The flour blend helps to keep these soft sugar cookies soft. Which, for gluten-free cookies, is a bit of feat. Gluten-free cookies tend to dry out fast. The combination of the flours, starches, and xathan gum in the blend helps the cookies hold on to moisture.
Flour alone does not a soft cookie make, however. Granulated sugar brings sweetness and tenderness to the recipe (no brown sugar or maple syrup for this recipe, please.) While our friends butter, eggs, baking powder, salt, and vanilla create a dough that easy to work with.
And then there’s sour cream.
While working on this recipe, I tried like heck to avoid using sour cream. I hate recipes that only call for a little bit of something that’s not usually kept in the house. And this recipe only uses about 1/2 cup of sour cream. That means you’ll have some sour cream leftover. I’m sorry. (Idea: make baked potatoes!)
Yet I kept seeing soft sugar cookie recipes that used either sour cream or cream cheese.
The sour cream ended up being a much needed ingredient. It adds a little extra fat, which softens the dough, and provides just the slightest tang. Without the sour cream, the cookies tasted flat. (The cream cheese made good cookies but they were a little dry for my taste.)
Mix the dough in either the bowl of a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer. This isn’t a dough you can chill and roll; it’s too soft for that but it’s perfect for scooping.
Gluten-Free Soft Sugar Cookies: Shaping and Baking
Scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. I can’t recommend a cookie scoop highly enough for this task. It makes quick work of scooping the dough and each ball of dough is the same size. Evenly sized cookies=even baking time.
If you don’t have a cookie scoop, spoon about two tablespoons of dough into your hand and round into a ball.
Once you scoop the dough onto the pan, press it down. This is key. If you don’t press the cookies down, they won’t look like a classic lofthouse cookie. This dough won’t spread during baking. Whatever it looks like going into the oven is how it looks coming out.
To do flatten the cookies, fill a small bowl with cool water. Dip the bottom of a flat glass or measuring cup into the water. Press the dough down until it’s flat. Repeat, dipping the glass into the water frequently.
Bake until the cookies are set. The cookies should look flat, not shiny, when done.
Gluten-Free Soft Sugar Cookies: Frosting
These cookies are frosted with a soft buttercream frosting. Honestly, the frosting made the cookies totally irresistible to me. I seriously had a hard time walking away from a plate of these cookies. “Just one more” was my mantra. A dangerous, dangerous mantra. (Note to self: go for a long walk today.)
The frosting doesn’t get hard like royal icing. And, if I’m being honest, that’s what I love about it. Royal icing makes pretty cookies. Yet, it doesn’t make tasty cookies.
This frosting stays nice and soft and tastes great thanks to the combination of butter and powdered sugar. Now some people find powdered sugar chalky. If you’re one of them, try organic powdered sugar. The chalky taste that some find unpleasant comes from the cornstarch that’s present in regular powdered sugar. Organic powdered sugar contains tapioca starch which is soft, not chalky, on the tongue. (Or, you could make your own corn-free powdered sugar if you have a high powered blender.)
To frost the cookies, first allow them to cool completely. If you frost the cookies while they’re still warm, the frosting melts into a mess. And nobody wants that!
Gluten-Free Soft Sugar Cookies: Holidays
The frosting colors for Lofthouse cookies change with the season. You can do that too! Add a drop or two of food color to your frosting. I recommend using a gel or paste food coloring. This keeps the frosting nice and thick. Liquid food colors can thin down the frosting.
And if you want to change the flavor of the cookies for the season, add a little extract, like orange or peppermint, to the dough along with the vanilla.
Like I said, you can’t roll this dough into shapes and make seasonal cutouts but with pretty colored frosting and sprinkles, I don’t think anyone will notice.
Q&A
Can I roll this cookie dough?
No. This dough can’t be rolled. If you want a roll-out cookie dough, here’s my recipe for gluten-free sugar cookies. I love that recipe!
Can I make these dairy-free?
I don’t know. I haven’t tested this recipe with dairy replacements. If you try it without dairy, let me know how it goes.
Can I make these egg-free?
Probably not. These need the egg to create a soft and tender cookie.
Do these stay soft?
Yes! You want to store them in an airtight container. In the winter, when it’s dry in your house, they dry out after a few days but they’ll still taste great. Trust me on this.
Do I have to frost them?
Nope. They dry out faster without frosting, however.
Where’d you get those sprinkles?
I got them at the Confectionery House. You can order them here.(As always, be sure to check that your sprinkles are gluten-free.)
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Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Flour
Cookie Scoop
Baking Sheet
Cooling Rack
Gluten-Free Soft Sugar Cookies (Lofthouse Copycat Recipe)
This easy recipe makes the best gluten-free soft sugar cookies. Inspired by the famous Lofthouse brand, these cookies are topped with frosting and finished with sprinkles.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Frosting
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
- 2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
- 4 tablespoons sour cream, more as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- food color, optional
- sprinkles, optional
Instructions
For the Cookies
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper
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Beat butter and sugar until fluffy on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Turn mixer to low speed. Add the flour blend, baking powder, and salt. Mix for 15 seconds. Dough will be thick. Add the sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix until combined.
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Scoop dough, about two tablespoons each, onto prepared baking sheets. Dip the bottom of a small glass into water. Press dough down until flat, abot 1/2-thick. Repeat, dipping glass in water as needed, until all cookies are flat.
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Bake until cookies are set, about 16 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for two minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough.
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Spread frosting on cooled cookies. Top with sprinkles, if desired. Store in an airtight container for up to four days.
For the Frosting
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Beat butter, confectioner's sugar, sour cream, and vanilla extract in a medium mixing bowl until smooth. Frosting will be thick. If frosting is too thick to spread, add additional sour cream, about one tablespoon at a time, until the correct consistency is achieved. Stir in food coloring if using. (For more than one color, divide frosting evenly among bowls and stir in food color.)
Donna Armstrong says
Very excited about these. 3 granddaughters and 1 daughter all gluten free. So a big thank you
Elizabeth says
You’re welcome! Enjoy!
Karen says
WOW! We love these. I rolled the dough into balls and after baking dipped them into lemon icing.
Sally says
These are so good. They remind me of Cheryl’s cookies. Thank you for this one.
Lisa says
The taste of these cookies are right on par with the Lofthouse cookies. It is nice having a cookie that isn’t like cardboard in texture or taste. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Haley says
These are absolutely delicious. And SO much easier to make than rolled out sugar cookies!
Kristen F says
These were so good! Everyone loved them. I will make these again and again.
Authentic B says
I’ve been making sugar cookies since I was a kid and this recipe is the best. We are a dairy free household, so we used vegan butter (Earth Balance) and coconut milk yogurt in place of the sour cream in the batter. For the frosting we used the same vegan butter and replaced the sour cream with almond milk. Everything turned out delicious AND the cookies were moist for days. That almost never happens with gf cookies. Thanks for sharing, we will definitely use this recipe again and again. I’m thinking Valentine’s Day cookies next. ❤️
Jenny says
I made these dairy free with Earth Balance butter and Tofutti sour cream and they were AMAZING!! Absolutely the BEST!! This recipe is a keeper for sure!!
Elizabeth says
So glad to hear they worked with those subs! Thanks for letting me know!
Kristin says
Do you know if these freeze well (before being frosted)? I’ve just made my second batch in a week–they’re delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Elizabeth says
Yes! The cookies freeze really well. You can even frost them before freezing. Just place the cookies in a single layer and put a piece of waxed paper between to keep the frosting from getting “smushed.”
Kristin says
Amazing. Thank you! My 6 year old daughter has a gluten allergy, and someone was bringing this style of sugar cookie to her class’s fall party. I was able to make these for her to take so she could have something similar, and they looked almost identical to the ones her classmates had. (I added red and yellow food coloring to make orange, and then I put some Halloween-themed sprinkles on top.) This recipe has already become legendary in our family! 🙂 Will definitely make a double batch next time and freeze some of them.
Ashley says
My dough is very crumbly. The only thing I didn’t follow was keeping mixer on low while adding the flour mixture because I don’t have a stand mixture. They’re coming out ok (still cooling) but I couldn’t even use the cookie scoop most of the time because it was just crumbs. Any suggestions?
Elizabeth says
If it was that dry, I’d add a tablespoon more of sour cream. Or a splash or milk. That should help! What flour blend did you use?
Hope that helps!
Jennifer Hayes says
The cookies are very good. Mine are cooling right now. I’m curious what sour cream adds to the frosting. Do these have to be refrigerated due to the sour cream in the frosting?
Elizabeth says
The sour cream adds flavor and makes for a smooth frosting. You don’t need to chill them. They’re fine on the counter! (Of course, if you live in a very hot climate, use your best judgment because the frosting gets soft in temperature over 80+ degrees F.)
AG says
These cookies were literally THE best sugar cookies I’ve ever made! Thank you so much for this recipe! I made them for a mommy and son event and they were gone pretty quick! My children have multiple food allergies, and I didn’t have vanilla, almond extract, or sour cream on hand, so I made some substitutes and I also made these dairy free. I also cut the recipe in half because I didn’t need that many cookies. They were perfect!
Since I didn’t have vanilla or vegan sour cream on hand, I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk yogurt in place of these, both in the dough recipe and the icing recipe. It was perfect! I also used the MELT brand of dairy free “butter” as well, along with all natural food dye and all natural sprinkles. My kids were so obsessed with these!
Jonel says
You’re smoking (REMOVED) if you think sour cream isn’t something people normally have in the house lol. It’s a staple! 🙂
Suzi says
These cookies are amazing! My daughter and I were also wary of the sour cream but we took your advice and used it anyway. They’re soooooo soft and delicious!! Thank you!!
Elizabeth says
Yay! I’m so glad you like them. The sour cream really makes a difference!
AG says
These are AMAZING! We’ve been making these for over a year now, and they are perfect for every occasion. My son has a dairy allergy as well, so use Earth Balance vegan butter, and instead of using the sour cream, we substitute Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk yogurt for the cookies and the icing, which also means we can leave out the regular vanilla extract too. They are fantastic!
Sofia says
Can I replace the sour cream with plain, Greek yogurt?
Elizabeth says
This is a good question. In this recipe, it should work. We’re only replacing a 1/4 of a cup. However, in some recipes it won’t work because the fat content of Greek yogurt is much lower than the fat content of sour cream.
Even in this recipe, you might notice that the cookies stale a little faster because of the reduced fat.
I hope this helps!
Maury says
Hello,
I’m going to be making these for a Valentine’s Day cookie box. Once iced, does the icing dry to the touch? I’m worried if too soft, it would get crushed or misshaped in the box. Can you use it to pipe a small border around a cookie?
Thanks!
Tried them once already, delicious and lots of compliments.
Elizabeth says
The frosting crusts over but it never gets hard. If you were to stack them, the frosting would smudge. Perhaps use royal icing? It’s egg white based and dries very hard.
Patty says
LOVE THESE SO MUCH – best cookies ever
what is the nutrition info
Heidi Olfert says
Great recipe! I used a slightly different flour blend and added more vanilla because my son is allergic to almonds. They came out so fluffy and with such a great texture! Very yummy too! Definitely a great gluten free lofthouse cookie recipe!