Description
How to make the BEST Lofthouse Cookies at home that taste as good as the iconic grocery store classic thick cake cookie! These soft and sweet Lofthouse Cookies are secretly eggless, dairy free, and vegan too, yet absolutely no one will know. Simple ingredients, and so easy to make!
Ingredients
Scale
Vegan Lofthouse Sugar Cookies:
- 1 3/4 cup (200 g) store bought or homemade oat flour
- 3/4 (105 g) cup cassava flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter, room tempearture
- 1 cup (200 g) organic granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 g) unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 1/3 cup (80 g) vegan sour cream or dairy free yogurt, room tempearture
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract, optional but recommended
Vegan Buttercream Frosting:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (240 g) vegan powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp vegan pink/red food coloring (I recommend beet powder, rose powder, hibiscus powder, or a liquid red food coloring, used sparingly)
- Vegan Sprinkles to top
Instructions
- Prep: Measure out all ingredients before beginning.
- Whisk: In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, cassava flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Cream: In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the vegan butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Then add in the applesauce, sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix again until combined. Be sure to scrape the bowl down as needed to ensure all ingredients are mixed together.
- Make the dough: Sift in the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture, and use a silicone spatula to fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients JUST until combined. Be careful not to over mix the dough.
- Chill the dough: Form the dough into a flat disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Shape the cookies: Preheat the oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. On a clean, generously floured surface, roll out the dough to be about 1/2″ thick. Use a 3″ or 4″ round cookie cutter, and cut as many cookies as you can, transferring them to the baking sheets afterwards. Use more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Collect the dough scraps, and re-roll to shape more cookies until you have no more dough. Make sure that the cookies are spaced about 1″ from each other.
- Bake: Place the cookies into the freezer to chill for 5 minutes. Then place them into the oven to bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges just about to turn a light golden color. Remove from the oven.
- Cool: Transfer the cookies to cool on a cooling rack completely before making the frosting.
- Make the frosting: Make the buttercream frosting by creaming together the vegan butter and powdered sugar with a hand mixer in large bowl. Add in the vanilla extract and food coloring to the desired color, along with an additional tablespoon of dairy free milk if needed for a fluffy consistency. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag or plastic bag, and snip the end of the piping bag.
- Frost: Pipe the frosting directly onto each cookie (see photos for reference), and use a butter knife to spread the frosting around. Sprinkle with vegan sprinkles if desired.
- Serve and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge.
Notes
Not gluten-free? Sub in 2 1/3 cups (290 g) all purpose flour for both the oat flour and the cassava flour.
Applesauce substitution: If you don’t want to use applesauce, you can sub in extra dairy free yogurt or vegan sour cream.
Nut-free: Omit the almond extract, and swap in 1/4 tsp more of cream of tartar