Soft, Cake-like Sugar Cookies

When you walk into a grocery store and see the clear plastic packages of Lofthouse cookies, to which school of thought do you subscribe? 'Icky, mass-produced artificial color and flavor bombs!'? Or 'CRACK! GIMME!!'? Or maybe, possibly a little of both?

Here's a way to make a homemade version. I found the same recipe on Secret Recipe Archive and cdkitchen, and I made a few changes. I subbed half the butter with Crisco butter-flavored shortening to get that lovey-dovey, huggy cakey softness. I added a little salt. Because bland dough needs just a little salt. And I increased the frosting just a bit. I used a 3-inch/7.5 cm round cutter, and got just shy of 4 dozen cookies. The amount of frosting was enough to cover each one.

'LOFTHOUSE' COOKIES

1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. shortening
2 C. sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 C. sour cream
5-6 C. flour (until desired consistency for rolling)

Cream together butter, shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs and sour cream and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Dough will be very soft. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Roll out dough to a 1/4 to 3/8 inch thickness using a generous amount of flour (I used a 3-inch/7.5cm round cutter). Cut out shapes and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Frost and decorate as desired.

'LOFTHOUSE' FROSTING

5 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup shortening
6-7 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
food coloring (optional)

In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.





They'll barely have any color, but they're done. Don't overbake them.


























I chose a simple sprinkle of raw sugar on top of the frosting, but you could add colored jimmies or sprinkles to make them look just as tawdry as the industrial, store-bought version.

I was told by a coworker that these were just as good as his grandmother's sugar cookies. Pretty much the entire batch was devoured at a work potluck by shift's end.