Dairy Free Lofthouse Cookies; a.k.a., Pillowy Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

These homemade dairy free lofthouse cookies are pillowy soft, decadently sweet, and SO much better than store-bought. Plus, you’ll never know the dairy is missing. Switch up the colors and sprinkles for whatever you’re celebrating!

A few weeks back, Mike officially graduated from his fellowship at the hospital after years of training to be a doctor. (More on that here!) Before the pandemic hit, I had all of these big plans to celebrate him with a fancy night in the city, but obviously, we had to scratch that and come up with a few new ways to celebrate.

One of Mike’s most favorite desserts on the planet is those store-bought frosted Lofthouse cookies. That man is obsessed.

If you haven’t ever tried Lofthouse cookies, or aren’t sure what they are, allow me to explain: classic Lofthouse cookies are pillowy soft sugar cookies topped with a thick layer of frosting. The sugar cookie base is light and fluffy but holds up to a nice layer of sweet buttercream frosting. Lofthouse cookies are most commonly found as a staple in grocery store bakeries. They’re often topped with colorful frosting and sprinkles and they’re a big hit with kids and grownups alike.

Dairy Free Lofthouse Cookies; a.k.a., Pillowy Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

Lofthouse cookies are also the perfect celebratory cookie! You can make them for birthdays, top them with orange frosting and black sprinkles for Halloween, use green and red or blue and white frosting and sprinkles for Christmas and Hanukkah, use pink or yellow for Easter or spring holidays, green for St. Patrick’s Day, the list goes on and on.

See Also → Soft and Chewy Dairy Free Sugar Cookies + The Most Amazing Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies (that can also be made vegan and/or gluten-free too!)

Basically, when there’s a celebration to be had or a holiday to celebrate, you NEED these Lofthouse cookies.

Dairy Free Lofthouse Cookies; a.k.a., Pillowy Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

So I set out to recreate Mike’s favorite Lofthouse cookies, with a twist: they had to be dairy free so that our oldest daughter, Scarlett, could eat them too.

Admittedly, I was a bit worried about how much work would be involved in making our own Lofthouse cookies, but they turned out to be quite easy to make and the end result was incredible. Honestly, you’d never know these rich and fluffy cookies were dairy free.

And most important of all, our whole family absolutely loved them.

Forget the grocery store cookies; these dairy free Lofthouse cookies are ten million times better.

These dairy free pillowy soft frosted sugar cookies are decadently good. The cookie is light, fluffy, moist, and perfectly sweet, and topping them with a rich frosting = heaven.

Now since we do everything with a twist, the classic Lofthouse cookie has a buttercream frosting; I’ve tried them with both a vegan cream cheese frosting and a vegan buttercream frosting and both are awesome. We went with the cream cheese frosting for this particular celebration because Mike loves it and it was his celebration after all. And honestly, the vegan cream cheese frosting topped cookies might be the winner. 😉

Either way, the frosting is super easy to whip up (both of the recipes are down below) and either one tastes amazing paired with these pillowy soft sugar cookies.

Now as for devouring the cookies, whether you eat them fresh (and cooled) right out of the oven, or snack on them chilled (my favorite!) throughout the week, these dairy free Lofthouse cookies will quickly top your list for best ever sugar cookies. They’re that good.

What You’ll Need to Make Dairy Free Lofthouse Cookies

• All purpose flour or cake flour
• baking powder
• salt
• Vegan butter (Earth Balance butter sticks work GREAT!)
• vegetable shortening, like Crisco
• granulated sugar
• eggs
• vanilla extract
• almond extract

These cookies work SO well with both buttercream frosting and our favorite vegan cream cheese frosting! Both are super easy to whip up and taste amazing paired with these pillowy soft sugar cookies, so this is really a “take your pick” kind of situation.

What You’ll Need to Make Vegan Buttercream Frosting

• vegan butter, softened
• vegetable shortening
• vanilla extract
• salt
• powdered sugar
• Almond milk or soy milk
• food coloring

What You’ll Need to Make Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

• vegan butter, softened
• vegan cream cheese (like Tofutti), slightly softened
• sifted powdered sugar
• vanilla extract
• food coloring

And of course, don’t forget the sprinkles!

Now let’s get to that cookie recipe …

Dairy Free Lofthouse Cookies; a.k.a., Pillowy Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies

These homemade dairy free lofthouse cookies are pillowy soft, decadently sweet, and SO much better than store-bought. Switch up the colors and sprinkles for whatever you’re celebrating!

Print

Ingredients

• FOR THE COOKIES:
• 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour or cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vegan butter*, softened
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• CHOOSE YOUR FROSTING ...
• FOR THE VEGAN BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
• 1/3 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3-3.5 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tbsp almond milk or soy milk
• food coloring
• FOR THE VEGAN CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1 8-ounce container vegan cream cheese, slightly softened
• 2 - 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

TO MAKE THE COOKIES:

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Use a sifter, so you have light fluffy flour that wont clump.
2. In a separate medium sized bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, shortening and sugar. Mixture should be very pale yellow and fluffy.
3. Vigorously beat in the egg, egg white, vanilla extract and almond extract using a wooden spoon or a paddle attachment of a stand mixer.
4. With the stand mixer on low, slowly mix in the flour mixture about 1/2 at a time.
5. Cover the bowl of cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
6. After completely chilling the cookie dough, preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
7. Prep your cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper, nonstick foil, or silicone baking mats.
8. Using your hands or a cookie scoop, shape the dough into ping pong sized balls and place each cookie ball 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Once on the cookie sheet, use your hand to gently flatten the dough balls and smooth the edges to make a disc shape. (If the dough is sticking to much to your hands as you do this, just sprinkle your hands with a little flour.)
9. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the tops are set. (10 minutes was perfect for me!)
10. Do not overcook as these cookies are best when ever so slightly under-done.
11. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

TO MAKE THE VEGAN BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:

1. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together shortening and butter.
2. Add vanilla and salt and mix well.
3. Add in the powdered sugar about 1 cup at a time until fully incorporated, then beat in the milk about 1 tablespoon at a time, adding a little more powdered sugar as necessary.
4. Mix in the food coloring until you reach your desired color (about 5-6 drops).

TO MAKE THE VEGAN CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

1. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, add softened vegan butter and beat or whisk vigorously until smooth. Then add vegan cream cheese and mix again until smooth and creamy.
2. Add sifted powdered sugar about 1 cup at a time until frosting is thick and spreadable and is to desired sweetness. (The perfect frosting will have a pretty thick, very smooth consistency; so keep adding powdered sugar until it reaches a good consistency.)
3. Add in vanilla and stir to combine once more.

...

Frost cooled cookies with a flat butter knife and top with sprinkles.

Notes

*Earth Balance butter sticks work best for baking (and are perfect for this recipe!) 1 stick equals 1/2 cup.

Adapted via Sweet C’s

Writing this post just has me dreaming up another excuse to make our celebratory Lofthouse cookies!

Are you just as in love with Lofthouse cookies as my husband is? Do you have a favorite store-bought cookie? I’m always looking for fun new recipes to re-create with our own spin!

SHOP THE DAIRY FREE LOFTHOUSE SUGAR COOKIES RECIPE POST | CLICK LEFT & RIGHT ARROWS TO EXPLORE

Love these frosted sugar cookies? Head to our recipe page to check out what else we’re dreaming up in the kitchen! 

If you make your own dairy free Lofthouse cookies, be sure to tag me on social media (@glitterinclexi) so I can live vicariously through all of your sweet creations! Plus, I’d love to hear how yours turn out (and if you’re just as obsessed as we are!)

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