Lofthouse Cookie Attempt #1

There is nothing I love better in the world of store-bought baked goods than a Lofthouse sugar cookie. They are my addiction and my crack and I have inhaled more boxes of these delectable treats than I care to admit. Little did I know that Lofthouse is a Utah company, based out of Ogden so they predominate on the West Coast, but I was often able to find them in Virginia and occasionally, in Hawaii (especially around holidays). Before we left Georgia, I insisted on buying two boxes of Lofthouse cookies (one I ate there and one I polished off in our first week in Korea) because I feared that I wouldn't see them again for another two years.

However I did see them at the Commissary over the Fourth of the July weekend. They were very patriotic. I rejoiced in seeing them and exercised extreme willpower and did not purchase them. I have come to regret that decision since I have yet to see them there again. They are probably only brought in during certain holidays and so I will have to bide my time until the next cookie worthy holiday arrives......which means I've got a long wait until Halloween.

So I began searching for a Lofthouse cookie recipe. And I found many a recipe claiming to recreate the splendor of the cookie; one even claimed to be the original recipe. I've decided to work my way through the collection of supposed Lofthouse cookie recipes I've amassed to see if I can come close to its cookie awesomeness.

Here's the recipe I chose to make today:

Ingredients:
1 (18.9 oz Pkg.) Pillsbury French Vanilla cake mix
1/3 C vegetable oil (Crisco)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375F. Blend, cake mix, eggs, and oil until moistened. Roll into 1" balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with a glass or cookie stamp. Bake at 375F for 6-8 minutes. Allow to cool 1 minute before removing to cooling rack. While the cookies are still a little warm, spread on some buttercream frosting. Allow the frosting to set up before storing.

Buttercream Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6-8 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Place butter in a large bowl. Add 4 cups sugar and then milk and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, approx 3-5 minutes. Gradually add remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time beating well after each time, about 2 minutes, until the icing is thick enough to spread. Add food coloring if you'd like.

I liked the idea of this recipe for several reasons: it had a simple ingredients list, relatively clear directions (some have no directions), and derived from a cake mix. I like the cost effectiveness of using cake mixes. Plus the Lofthouse cookie is a cakey sort of cookie and I thought using a cake mix might be a good step towards recreating that soft flakey cake-cookie hybrid.

I made the dough according to the instructions but added some sour cream (for moistness) and more flour. It was too wet a dough to begin with and so I added maybe 1/2 - 1 cup extra flour but I don't think it was near enough.

I shaped bits of the dough into balls and rolled them in extra flour. Otherwise they were slightly too sticky to work with.

I then used the bottom of my measuring cup to smash them into circles. I popped them in the oven for about 8 minutes.

And here they are fresh out of the oven. I think, in addition to more flour, I should have also cooked them for a little longer but I was afraid of over cooking them since Lofthouse cookies are never golden brown, but rather delicately white.

In the meantime, I whipped up the buttercream frosting. Now, you must understand that frosting is my Achilles Heel when it comes to baking. Aside from my brown butter maple frosting, I have yet to find a frosting recipe that I like and I can never seem to get it to the right consistency. I was wary about this frosting and thought about cutting it in half but I decided to be brave and go for the whole thing. I should have cut it in half. It was no where near thick enough for a Lofthouse cookie and did not have the right taste, texture or flavor. And, of course, I had a TON left over. It's a good thing I was planning on making cupcakes later this week or else I'd be rather perturbed by how much extra frosting this recipe produced.


And here's the finished final product. I thought they looked tasty despite the inadequate frosting and after waiting for them to finish cooling down, I tried one.

I was not impressed.

Oh, don't get me wrong. They're are perfectly acceptable sugar cookies. In fact, they are moist, soft and chewy. But they in no way resemble a Lofthouse cookie. The cookie itself was not cakey (needs more flour) and the frosting was not thick enough (less milk, more butter). So this recipe will get written down as a fail. I'll just have to keep trying. And now I need to find someone to eat these cookies. I can't even look at them without being utterly disappointed. Plus, I really went crazy with the frosting. Hee.