Homemade Lofthouse Style Cookies

Yes, I made homemade Lofthouse style cookies. These are my husbands favorite cookies from the grocery store. So when he came home from baseball tryouts (for our son) I was anxious for his input. He loved them! He said he liked them more then the store-bought variety. That is high praise from the food-critic I married!

Okay - when I decided to make these cookies I researched several recipes via Google and Pinterest. There was an unbelievable amount of recipes for these cookies. A few people claimed that they knew the family that invented the recipe and I really wanted to try that recipe BUT it called for shortening. I did not have any shortening! I have four kinds of sugar (granulated, powdered, light brown, dark brown) and two kinds of flour (all-purpose and cake) and several extracts (vanilla, almond, lemon and rum) BUT no shortening. Also many of them called for a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter. I measured my round cookie cutter and it was the wrong size. Shocker!

Sooooo - I decided the first recipe that I found that I had all the ingredients needed in my pantry and refrigerator would be the recipe that I would try!

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4  1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
5 teaspoons of vanilla

For the frosting:

5 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla
8 tablespoons of milk (plus a little more, if needed)
Sprinkles

In a medium bowl combine the flour,  baking powder and salt. Whisk to blend and set aside. In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture is soft and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix throughly after each egg. Blend in the vanilla and start adding the dry ingredients. Mix until everything is incorporated and evenly mixed. Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour.

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock. It has been 1 hour!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Scoop a a scant quarter cup of dough and roll it into a ball. Flatten the ball with the palm of your hand. Space your cookies 2-3 inches apart. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE! The edges should be very lightly browned if at all. Let cool on the baking sheet for several minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To frost the cookie, sift the confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter, vanilla and milk to the bowl and whisk until smooth. Whisk in additional milk if necessary, 1 teaspoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. At this point you could tint with food coloring. Use an offset spatula or spoon to frost the cookies. Top with sprinkles.

I decorated the cookies on my cooled cookie sheet to contain the sprinkle mess!

 These were really easy to make. However, I am going to buy some shortening this week and try the other recipe and let you know which one was best! Are you waiting on pins and needles for the outcome?

I think my cookies taste like and even look like the Lofthouse cookies from the store! Now I must give recipe credit. I found this recipe on What Megan's Making and she got the recipe from Hostess with The Mostest and it was on that website from Annie Eats.