Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies

Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies are the perfect soft sugar cookie! They have a classically delicious flavor with a cake-y, melt in your mouth texture you just can't get enough of.

What are vanilla frosted sugar cookies?

These delicious frosted sugar cookies are modeled after everyone’s favorite childhood cookie: Lofthouse cookies! 

You know those perfectly round, soft sugar cookies that are topped with colorful frosting and sprinkles at the grocery store bakery? The ones you always begged your mom for but she would never buy (at least in my case)? Those are Lofthouse cookies. They are impossibly soft and cake-like, and usually decorated seasonally.

This homemade version is especially great for Christmastime, because you always need a classic vanilla cookie for your cookie box! They are just as good (if not better) than the store-bought Lofthouse cookies.

You can color the frosting any color you’d like and decorate with fun holiday sprinkles of your choice!

What do I need to make these cookies?

Here’s everything you need to make these cookies:

• all-purpose flour
• cornstarch
• baking powder
• salt
• sugar
• unsalted butter- room temperature. You will need butter for both the cookies and the buttercream.
• cream cheese- softened to room temperature
• vanilla extract
• almond extract- compliments the vanilla to bring out an even better sugar cookie flavor
• egg
• powdered sugar
• heavy cream
• salt

How to make frosted vanilla sugar cookies

Here are all the steps involved in making cinnamon maple frosted sugar cookies!

Make the dough

First thing’s first, make the vanilla frosted sugar cookie dough. The first step is to combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Next, beat together the butter, cream cheese, and sugars until it becomes light and fluffy. Then, add the extracts and the egg and mix. Lastly, add the dry ingredients you combined earlier and mix into the wet until the flour just disappears.

The dough will be pretty soft and sticky, so at this point, flatten it into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and transfer the dough to the fridge. Refrigerate the cookie dough for about 1 hour.

Cut shapes and bake:

After the dough is well chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick. Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out the cookie shapes.

If you don’t have any round cookie cutters, you can use another shape or the rim of a thin glass- I used the rim of a wine glass to cut my circle shapes for the sugar cookies!

Now, place the cut out cinnamon maple frosted sugar cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake the cookies at 350ºF.

The vanilla frosted sugar cookies don’t need to bake for very long. They only need about 10-12 minutes in the oven, so they stay nice and soft! When finished, the cookies are very light in color and just set around the edges.

Frosting:

Now, make the frosting for the vanilla frosted sugar cookies.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is light and creamy. Now add the powdered sugar and beat again until the mixture is light and fluffy, which should take about three minutes.

Now add the rest of the ingredients: heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat all of the ingredients together in the electric mixer until you get a well-combined, light and fluffy buttercream. At this point, add any food coloring you are planning on using and mix it in.

Use an offset spatula to frost the tops of the cooled sugar cookies.

Have fun decorating these cookies with any seasonal sprinkles you like! To make a Christmas frosted vanilla sugar cookie, I separated the frosting into two bowls and colored one red and one green. I used a different sprinkle mix for each color to make a festive, fun cookie combo!

These cookies are sure to be such a crowd pleaser with both kids and adults.

If you make these, I would really appreciate if you left a comment and a rating below! Your support helps me continue to be able to bring you free recipes and content! You can also tag me on Instagram @lalaskitchentable if you make one of my recipes- I love to see what you’re making! 🙂

Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies

Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies are thick, super soft, and generously frosted with vanilla buttercream! Color the frosting whatever color you like and decorate with seasonal sprinkles for the cutest cookie everyone will love.

Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 4 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1 egg

Frosting

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1.5 sticks)
• 2 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• food coloring
• sprinkles (for decorating)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch, baking powder, and salt.

2. In another bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar, until light and fluffly. Add extracts and egg; beat until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture; beat until just combined. Transfer dough to plastic wrap; flatten into disc and transfer to fridge for about 1 hour, until dough is well chilled.

3. Preheat oven to 350ºF; line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thick. Use a 3” round cookie cutter to cut cookies and place on prepared baking sheets 2” apart. Gather scraps and re-roll to cut to cut out more cookies.
4. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes, until edges are set; should still be pale in color. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheets.

5. Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar and beat again until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt; beat until combined. Add desired food coloring and mix.

6. Using an offset spatula, frost cooled cookies in a thick layer; decorate with sprinkles.