Super soft, fluffy, and easy to make, these Chocolate Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookies are such a fun and festive cookie that can be easily customized for any holiday by changing the frosting and sprinkles to match the season!

Looking for more Halloween inspiration? Be sure to check out our Halloween Sugar Cookie Bars, Halloween Chocolate Blossom Sprinkle Cookies, and Halloween Chocolate Cherry Hand Pies.

purple and orange frosted chocolate sugar cookies topped with sprinkles


How often do you take a turn as room mom for your elementary-aged kids? It's so much work!

Somehow I keep saying it's my last year and then getting sucked back in when school starts up again in the fall. Last year for my oldest daughter's holiday party, I picked up some Lofthouse cookies from the store. She was aghast and admonished me by repeating my mantra, "but homemade is so much BETTER!"

She's right, of course, but I have a guilty secret - I love those soft, cakey, frosted cookies covered in fun & cheerful sprinkles! I don't even care that they are store-bought!

An image of easy, fun Halloween sugar cookies made with colorful frosting and seasonal sprinkles.

But since homemade really IS better and since it is #Choctoberfest, I thought I would make a chocolate lofthouse cookie recipe and cover them with the cutest "Monster Mashup" Halloween sprinkles you ever did see from Sprinkle Pop, who is one of our fantastic sponsors!

An image of chocolate Lofthouse cookies frosted with purple and orange frosting for Halloween and sprinkled with monster mash sprinkle mix from Sprinkle Pop.

What are Lofthouse Cookies?

Chances are even if you don't recognize the name Lofthouse cookies, you know the ones I'm talking about. They are those super soft, pure white frosted sugar cookies in clear plastic containers on display in every grocery store bakery across the country.

They are achingly sweet and always decorated for whatever holiday is coming up next, or made with the classic pink frosting and sprinkles. Always sprinkles, because it wouldn't be a Lofthouse cookie without the sprinkles!

An image of purple and orange frosted chocolate sugar cookies decorated with Halloween sprinkles.
An image of a soft chocolate sugar cookie with a bite taken out of it, surrounded by other cookies and sprinkles.

How to Make Chocolate Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookies

These chocolate Lofthouse cookies are easy to make, but there are a few key things to keep in mind.

  1. The dough needs to chill. It's a super soft dough thanks to the ratio of liquid to dry ingredients (especially with the sour cream) and practically impossible to roll and cut out without chilling the dough first. I tried just rolling balls of dough between my hands and pressing them out, but that didn't work, so you will definitely need to let the dough chill.
  2. These cookies are definitely better the day after you make them. Like many chocolate desserts, the flavor develops with a little bit of time and you will taste the chocolate more on the second day. I also like how the frosting hardens somewhat by the second day, which gives them the actual texture that I love about the original Lofthouse cookies.
  3. If it's easier, you could pipe the frosting onto these cookies rather than spread it with a knife.
  4. These cookies freeze well if you need to make them ahead of time. Just pull them out and let them defrost on a counter before serving.
  5. If you want an intensely chocolate-y chocolate Lofthouse cookie, replace the vanilla buttercream with a chocolate buttercream. You will forego the fun colors, but get the bonus of more chocolate. So it's a trade-off. As written, these cookies are noticeably chocolate-y, but not in an in-your-face way.
An image of frosted Halloween sugar cookies covered in sprinkles.

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Chocolate Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookies

5 from 3 votes
Amy Nash
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Additional Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 23 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24 cookies
Super soft, fluffy, and easy to make, these Chocolate Lofthouse Frosted Sugar Cookies are such a fun and festive cookie that can be easily customized for any holiday by changing the frosting and sprinkles to match the season!

Ingredients
  

Cookies

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup butter softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • ¾ cup sour cream

Frosting

  • ½ cup butter room temperature
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
  • Pinch of salt
  • Food coloring (affiliate link)
  • Sprinkles

Instructions
 

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder;, salt, and cocoa powder, then set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes.  Add the egg and egg yolk and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.  Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat just until combined.
  • Add the dry ingredients, mixing on low just until combined, scraping down the bowl a few times to make sure the dough mixes well. Divide the dough into two sections and wrap with plastic wrap, flattening into discs. Chill at least 2 hours or more.
  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Lightly dust a clean counter with flour, then use a rolling pin (affiliate link) to roll out the dough to ¼-inch thickness.  Use a 2 ½-inch round cookie cutter to cut out circles and transfer to a baking sheet.
  • Bake for 7-8 minutes, then immediately transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting and decorating with sprinkles.
  • To make the frosting, beat the butter with a hand mixer until soft.  Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the vanilla and cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, to reach the desired spreading consistency.  Add the salt, then color with food coloring (affiliate link) and use to frost cookies.  Sprinkle with your favorite sprinkle mix before the frosting has a chance to set.  

Notes

Adapted from Handle the Heat.

Nutrition

Calories: 254kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 158mg | Potassium: 59mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 320IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @HouseOfNashEats or tag #houseofnasheats!

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About the author

Hi, I'm Amy

I enjoy exploring the world through food, culture, and travel and sharing the adventure with mostly from-scratch, family friendly recipes that I think of as modern comfort cooking.

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Reader questions and reviews

  1. 5 stars
    These look delicious! I'm definitely going to be making these. Do you have a version of this that's not chocolate? I'd much prefer that but I'm definitely going to try this recipe!