Topped with creamy vanilla buttercream and colorful sprinkles, these soft cakey sugar cookies are like sweet cupcakes in cookie form. Theyโre flavored with vanilla and a hint of almond and are terrific for birthdays or other festive celebrations. Plus, theyโre easy enough for kids and young children to help in the baking fun.
Todayโs soft cakey sugar cookies have all the sweet flavor of sugar cookies, but theyโre light, airy, and tender. Theyโre not quite like fan-favorite Lofthouse cookies sold on grocery store shelves, but theyโre pretty close in terms of sweetness and texture.
If you love cakey-style cookies, youโll also appreciate these fresh and zingy lemon ricotta cookies (easily one of the best soft cookies weโve ever had), pumpkin cookies, and our blueberry muffin cookies.
For a rich chocolate version of these cookies, try my chocolate frosted cookies.
Tell Me About these Soft Cakey Sugar Cookies
- Texture: Thanks in most part to the sour cream, these cookies bake up fat, soft, tender, and fluffy. The vanilla buttercream on top is smooth and creamy, while the sprinkles add a little texture contrast.
- Flavor: These cookies are buttery and sweet with a subtle tang. The hints of vanilla and almond add another layer of flavor.
- Ease: Thereโs no rolling pin or cookie cutters required, which makes this recipe a bit less technical than traditional sugar cookies. This dough is pretty sticky, so I recommend a medium cookie scoop for easier baking and less mess.
- Time: The dough comes together quickly, but youโll need to chill it in the refrigerator for 1 hour before shaping and baking. Chilling is a must. In our recipe testing, we tried reducing the chill time down to 30 minutes, but the cookies were noticeably flatter. 1 hour of chilling helps guarantee a thick cookie that holds its shape in the oven.
Video Tutorial: How to make Soft Cakey Sugar Cookies
The Magic of Sour Cream
The secret to a cakey cookie is moisture. The more moisture in your cookie dough, the softer, fluffier, and more tender it will taste. Butter is your best friend and eggs help with that moisture component, but we need an additional liquid-y solid or wet solid to help. Use sour cream.
- Sour cream adds much-needed moisture you need in the cookie dough.
- It creates an intensely creamy cookie with rich flavor.
- Sour cream also prevents the cakey cookie from becoming too dry.
For the best flavor and texture, use full-fat sour cream. You can use light sour cream in a pinch, but avoid the fat-free version.
Buttercream Options
These puffy sugar cookies are good on their own, but better when theyโre all dolled up with frosting. We used this vanilla buttercream tinted it with dusty rose gel food coloring. If vanilla isnโt your favorite, try chocolate buttercream, strawberry frosting, lemon buttercream, or even the peppermint frosting from these peppermint meltaway cookies. Or if you’re looking for a less sweet option, you might top these cookies with our whipped frosting. These sugar cookie cakelettes are a blank canvas for a variety of frosting options.
Nothing says a party like sprinkles, so be generous when you crown your cookies with the colorful toppers. We often use these naturally colored rainbow sprinkles.
Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipes: A Sweet Comparison
While this recipe is for cake-style sugar cookies, we have many other varieties published on the site. Hereโs a breakdown of our favorites:
- Sugar Cookies – These are our classic cut-out sugar cookies with soft centers and crisp edges. This dough is meant for shaping with cookie cutters.
- Chocolate Sugar Cookies – This is the chocolate version of the cookies linked above.
- Drop Sugar Cookies – These boast a very chewy texture and are loaded with sprinkles. (Or you can leave plain.) Thereโs no rolling pin or cookie cutters required.
- Brown Butter Sugar Cookies – These are similar to the drop cookies linked above, except they are flavored with rich brown butter.
- Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies – These drop style cookies are made with cream cheese. Theyโre thick, rich, and tangy. We often top them with cream cheese frosting.
- Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies with Nutella Glaze – These cut-out cookies are super soft and tangy. You can use your favorite shaped cookie cutters.
Soft Cakey Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
- Yield: 36-40 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These soft cakey sugar cookies are topped with creamy vanilla buttercream and sprinkles. Full-fat sour cream is the secret to their tender softness.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240g) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- vanilla buttercreamย and sprinkles for decorating*
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.ย Add the eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. The mixture may look curdled; that’s ok. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients until combined. The dough will be very thick, creamy, and silky.ย Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour and up to 2-3 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Line twoย large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.ย (Always recommendedย for cookies.)ย Set aside.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator. Measure cookies to be 1.5 Tablespoons each. I recommend this cookie scoop. Arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake for 13-14 minutes or until a cookieย springs back when lightly poked with your finger. (That’s how I test them!)ย Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare frosting (I use this vanilla buttercream) and spread onto each cooled cookie. Garnish with sprinkles, if desired.
- Frosted cookies will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions:ย You can chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (see step 2), but you can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking. Unfrosted cookies freeze well for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Sour Cream: Sour cream is a key ingredient in these cookies. For the best flavor and texture, I strongly recommend full-fat sour cream, but in a pinch light sour cream can work. Do not use fat free. Plain full-fat yogurt can be substituted. I don’t suggest subbing the sour cream with a liquid.
- Why Room Temperature? All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read here for more about the importance of room temperature ingredients.ย
It really makes a difference! - Pink Frosting: In these photos, I tinted the buttercream with 1 small dropย dusty roseย gel food coloring and topped with these natural color rainbow sprinkles.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Loved everything about these cookies. Grew up loving the Lofthouse cookies but these are better! They were a hit on this labor day
Can I half the recipe?
Should be fine, Allie, but we haven’t tested it.
My cookies are not expanding or flattening much… And so they feel tiny? Tips?
Hi Connie! Cookies with too much flour in them will not spread – How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
I lovedddd this recipe sooo much! The cookies themself we so delicious, and the frosting was like a cherry on top! Definitely looking forward to making these again!
Hi Sally, these cookies got RAVE REVIEWS!! I made them for a Co -worker for Easter. She tried one when I brought them to her and….. All she did was tell me all day how good they were!! Thank you for such a fabulous recipe! This will be in my rotation…permanently.. Thank you again. I have been using your recipes for some time now. Have a wonderful day.
So I followed the recipe, and actually had the dough chilled for 4ish hours. I used silicone mats and checked them at 11 minutes because we have a new oven. So put them in for a total of 13 minutes and unfortunately the bottoms were burnt . Not sure what went wrong?
Hi Suzanne, were you using darker, thin metal pans by chance? The darker and thinner the pans, the more likely your cookies (or other baked goods) will burn. If you wish to try these again, you can always try reducing the heat a bit. It does sound like your new oven may run a bit hot, so an oven thermometer would also be helpful to determine the true temperature. Thank you for giving these a try!
Can this dough be used with cookie cutters or is it too soft for that?
Hi Catherine, this dough is much too soft for cookie cutters. Here is our sugar cookie recipe instead!
If I omit the almond extract should I add more vanilla?
Hi Tammra, you can just leave it out. Happy baking!
Hey! So I’m pretty sure what the answer is, but I’m wondering if Greek yogurt would be ok as substitute for the sour cream? Only because that’s what I have on hand .
You bet, Suzanne!