Copycat Lofthouse Halloween Sugar Cookies

Copycat Lofthouse Halloween Sugar Cookies, a popular grocery store and bakery cookie confection in a homemade version, proving that homemade is always better! The next time you’re in line at the grocery store, look away from the store-bought ones, knowing full well that you can make them better yourself!

I love a good copycat recipe and these Copycat Lofthouse Halloween Sugar Cookies are no exception.  I’ve spent millions of dollars – well, maybe not millions, but more money than I really care to think about, on those lofthouse cookies you see for every single celebration or season at your local grocery store.

Lofthouse cookies are already on the shelves at the grocery store.  I see them almost everywhere I go!  But, it seems that the only thing the original Lofthouse cookie does is to change the colour of the frosting and the sprinkles.  The store-bought cookie tastes the same every single time.

That is why, Dear Reader, if you can master the simplicity of the homemade lofthouse cookie, you can make them at home for every occasion by just switching up the sprinkles and the colour of the frosting. You can even change the flavour by adding different extracts!

LOFTHOUSE COOKIES

Lofthouse cookies first hit grocery stores in 1994.  They have since exploded into a cookie that has become synonymous with every single occasion or event one can think of.

Walk through the bakery section of any Walmart at Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentines Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Canada Day, Independence Day, etc., and you’ll see tables stacked high with themed lofthouse cookies.

They are delicious and very inexpensive, but also, like most baked items in grocery stores, they come with lots of preservatives, which I’m trying my best to avoid.

THE INGREDIENTS ARE SIMPLE

My copycat version has real ingredients; simple ingredients, and to be perfectly honest, Dear Reader, these are so much fun to make! Here is what you will need for the cookie base:

• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Salt – This is a common ingredient in baking and cooking.  In baking, it helps to enhance and balance the sweetness. 
• Cornstarch – When added to cake, cookie and shortbread recipes, cornstarch helps create a crumbly and tender dessert-like texture.
• Baking Soda – This is a baking ingredient that’s activated by a liquid and helps with leavening or rising. 
• Baking Powder – This is used to increase the volume of the batter and to add texture as well.
• Butter – Make sure your butter is softened and at room temperature! I always use salted butter, unless stated otherwise.  To be perfectly honest, there’s never much of a difference in taste or appearance once all is said and done. Use what you have on hand.
• Sugar – Sugar has more than one function in baking.  Not only does it add sweetness, but it will caramelize too, which will help to brown cookies and cakes. 
• Eggs – Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
• Vanilla Extract – Probably the most common extract and the most common flavouring used in cakes and cookies. 

And, here is what you will need for the frosting. Keep in mind that you can completely eliminate the frosting if you wish. The sugar-base cookie is delightful all on its own!

• Butter
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar.  It is used in frostings, dessert toppings, icings, and baked goods quite often.  It’s also very visually appealing when dusted lightly onto cakes and cookies.
• Vanilla Extract
• Food Colouring
• Sprinkles

HOW TO MAKE HALLOWEEN LOFTHOUSE COOKIES

1. Baking the Cookies

Begin by beating together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time and mix in well. Add the vanilla and beat into the butter and sugar mixture.  Scrap down the sides of the bowl and mix again. Add the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  Beat until just incorporated. Turn cookie dough out onto plastic wrap.  Wrap well and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Next, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Remove the plastic wrap from the dough and roll the dough on a lightly floured surface.  Roll the dough to 3/8 inch thick.  Using a cookie cutter, cut out the rounds and gently transfer them to the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie. Gather up the remaining dough and form into a ball to roll out again to make the rest of the cookies.  Repeat until all dough has been used up. Bake the cookies for exactly 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

2. Frosting and Decorating the Cookies

Once the cookies are completely cooled, start the frosting.  To do so, add all ingredients to a large bowl and beat the ingredients until light and fluffy.  You may add the food colouring to the entire mixture, or frost half of the cookies with white frosting first and then the other half with orange frosting.

To frost, use a one-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the frosting onto the center of the cookie.  Use a small off-set spatula to spread the frosting evenly over the cookie, leaving about 1/4 inch space around the outside.  Immediately top with candy sprinkles and set aside to allow the frosting to set up and dry a bit.  (This frosting will not dry completely like royal icing!)

Serve immediately, or transfer to a food-safe container with a lid.  Cookies will last for 5 days.  Refrigeration is not recommended.  

SPRINKLES!

I don’t care how old you are, or how big you’ve become in the grand scheme of life, there’s nobody out there who can truthfully state that they don’t like to lick the spoon, eat the icing, or sprinkle the shit out of a frosted cookie.  To deny it would be lying.

Working with sprinkles is always fun.  I have a nice collection of sprinkles all the time.  Now, granted, that’s because I’m a food blogger and need to keep a good supply on hand for those just-in-case moments, but truthfully, I like sprinkles because they’re pretty and fun.  Can I get an amen?

Sprinkles add just the right amount of festive to my Copycat Lofthouse Halloween Sugar Cookies, but you don’t need the sprinkles to make these cookies delicious.

In fact, you don’t even need the icing.  Lofthouse cookies, unlike most other sugar cookies, are really thick, which helps to keep them soft and chewy on the inside, with a crispy, crunchy outside.  The best of both cookie worlds combined into one!

NOT JUST FOR HALLOWEEN!

You can make these for any occasion.  I’ll certainly make them again for Christmas or Valentine’s.  As you know, once I find a great recipe, I’m not one to avoid re-using it for other recipe posts.  Why not?  If the recipe is worthy of a second mention, I’m all over it!

I encourage you to get your kids (if you have any!) involved with this recipe.  Lofthouse cookies are great cookies to bake with someone you love and like to have fun with.  Don’t be a control freak like me and bake them by yourself so that you don’t have to worry about someone making a mess with sprinkles!  (Even though I did make quite the mess!)

HOMEMADE IS BETTER THAN STORE-BOUGHT!

All I know is this: My Copycat Lofthouse Halloween Sugar Cookies are much better than the version you buy at your local bakery or at your favourite grocery store.  These cookies are simple to make and have very little ingredients.  With such few ingredients, I think it’s important to make these at home so that you can use fresh ingredients and eliminate preservatives.

Lastly, I highly encourage you to get your friends and kids involved with the making of these cookies.  Well, maybe not the making part, but certainly with the decorating part.  I can’t think of anyone – kid or otherwise – that wouldn’t love a go at icing a big, fat lofthouse cookie!

(I didn’t have anyone helping me make the cookies or decorate them, because I have control issues, but that’s a topic of discussion for another time.  You get help.  You share the fun.  Be you.  Don’t be a Byron.) So, have fun, Dear Reader, and have a safe and happy Halloween as well!