Gluten-free Lofthouse Cookies

These Gluten-free Lofthouse Cookies are *just* like the grocery store ones we all know and love except less than half the sugar, no gluten and you don’t need to chill the dough either.

We all love those iconic Lofthouse Cookies. You know those grocery store cookies with a super soft texture and the sweet frosting and sprinkles on top? YUP! Those fluffy dreamy things. We are making them at home with les than half the sugar. And this recipe is also gluten-free, nut-free and sooooo easy to make.

You don’t have to chill the dough. This recipe doesn’t require 100 different steps. And even if baking isn’t your forte, you’ll be able to handle these. I promise that if you follow my instructions and recipe exactly, you will be golden.

These Lofthouse cookies have the softest, melt-in-your-mouth texture and they’re buttery and sweet. My kids are obsessed with them and my husband even was freaking out over how good they turned out.

You’d never know that these a healthier version either. They are sweet, fluffy, rich and have that sugar cookie meets cake-like consistency and are too good. You can really use any cookie cutter you want for them to make any shape too. I keep things simple but feel free to use any cookie cutters you love.

Before you peak at what you need to make my Lofthouse cookies, here are the ingredients in the ones at the store:

SUGAR, ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), MARGARINE (PALM OIL, WATER, SOYBEAN OIL, SALT, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA [PRESERVATIVE], ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, ANNATTO [COLOR], VITAMIN A PALMITATE), EGGS, WATER, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: CORN STARCH, PALM KERNEL OIL, PALM OIL, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ALUMINUM SULFATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, RICE FLOUR, POLYSORBATE 60, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER), NONFAT MILK, COLORS (RED 40 LAKE, BLUE 1 LAKE, YELLOW 5 LAKE, RED 40, YELLOW 5, BLUE 1), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, CONFECTIONER’S GLAZE, SODIUM PROPIONATE (PRESERVATIVE), CARRAGEENAN, CELLULOSE GUM, CARNAUBA WAX.

You’ll see below how mine differ…I cannot wait to hear what you think of these! I hope you love them too.

What ingredients you need to make gluten-free Lofthouse Cookies:

• Unsalted butter – this shouldn’t be melted. Let the butter sit on counter at room temp for about 1-2 hours before using (or stick in your pants and it’ll warm up ha!)
• Cane sugar or coconut sugar – cookies will be slightly darker with coconut sugar but either of those can work
• Eggs – I haven’t tried another egg replacement here. Make sure they’re at room temperature too.
• Vanilla extract – add for flavor always in these cookies
•  Gluten-free flour – xanthan gum should be in this flour it’s key ingredient for texture
• Vanilla frosting – add food coloring if desired to the frosting. I like using vanilla or buttercream frosting for these
• Rainbow sprinkles – any rainbow sprinkles can work for this

How to make homemade Lofthouse Cookies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line or grease a baking sheet
2. Cream the butter and sugar together on low-medium speed
3. Add the eggs and beat until smooth
4. Add the salt, baking powder, vanilla extract and gluten-free flour and mix until fully combined
5. Roll the cookie dough between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and cut out with your favorite cookie cutters, or use 3-inch round cookie cutters to get the round shape
6. Place cookies on baking sheet and bake in your pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes (they will still be soft and they won’t look done)
7. Let the cookies cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet, and then remove to a cooling rack then frost and sprinkle!

FAQs and tips on making these fluffy sugar cookies:

1. Make sure your gluten-free flour as xanthan gum in it as it’s key for texture.
2. I used a 3-inch round cookie cutter to shape the cookies into round shape. You really can use any cookie cutter but I wanted to make these with a classic-look.
3. Make sure the butter is softened. Not melted, not firm, softened. Leave out counter for 1-2 hours so it’s soft.
4. Don’t over-bake the cookies. These will look underbaked when you take them out of the oven and that’s okay! You want them undercooked a bit so they are soft.
5. You can either smear the icing on top or pipe it, add however you’d like.
6. I don’t recommend freezing these cookies with the frosting but you can without.

A few other nostalgic dessert favorites to try:

Homemade Thin Mint Cookies (gluten-free)

Vegan Nutter Butter Cookies

Healthy Tagalong Girl Scout Cookies

Copycat Paleo Girl Scout Samoa Cookies