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I love sugar cookies! I love how versatile they are and how you can use them to celebrate pretty much any holiday. Today being Valentine’s Day, I got into the kitchen as soon as the kids left for school to make sure I had enough time to make some treats.

I decided to use the sugar cookie recipe found at Cookies & Cups (via Chef in Training) for Lofthouse Sugar Cookie Bars.

Lofthouse Sugar Cookies are a huge weakness of mine. You can’t believe the restraint I have to exercise every time I walk by the display of plastic containers in the bakery at the grocery store. It’s really ridiculous.

So obviously I had to give these a shot. Once I got into the kitchen I realized that I was running really low on a lot of my pantry staples. I’m at the end of my two-week grocery shopping period so as usual, a few shelves are looking a little bare. I had to improvise just a bit for these but they worked out great.

I once again utilized my new favorite best friend, Reynolds pan lining paper since my regular aluminum foil wasn’t wide enough for my pan. That meant I didn’t have to grease or butter anything (always a bonus, if you ask me). (No, Reynolds is not paying me.)

As you can see, I decided to put a little bit of a Valentine’s spin on these. Since these are baked in a sheet pan as bars, I wasn’t able to do cut-outs before they baked. Of course that doesn’t mean you can’t do it after they bake.

I used a regular cookie cutter and pressed it down into the pan while they were still slightly warm so that I wouldn’t get a lot of crumbling. I then put the cut-outs onto a rack to cool completely before frosting them.

I had to cheat on my frosting a bit. I was about five ounces shy of a full pound of powdered sugar, but since I wasn’t frosting the whole pan I knew I could squeak by. I also didn’t have enough butter (tragedy!) so I used just under a quarter cup each of butter and shortening. The frosting wasn’t as stiff as I usually like it but it tastes delicious, and I don’t think anyone else is going to care either. Usually I’d add a bit more powdered sugar, but see above.

Though I wouldn’t say these cookies are exactly like Lofthouse cookies, they are really good, and I’ll definitely be making them again.

Shoot. What on earth am I going to do with this mess?

Lofthouse Sugar Cookie Bars
from Cookies & Cups

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a jelly roll pan (15x10x1) with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

In your mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar together. Add in egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated. With mixer on low, add in dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix until just combined.

Press dough evenly into your prepared pan (dough will be sticky).

Bake for 20 minutes until edges begin to golden. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
from Chef in Training

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
16 oz powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients until well-blended. Adjust milk and powdered sugar to get desired consistency.

Posted in Baking, Bars, Cookies, Desserts

Tags:Baking.lofthouse cookies.recipe.sugar cookie recipe.sugar cookies.valentine's day.valentine's day cookie recipe.valentine's day cookies.Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies.Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookies recipe