soft sugar cookies with matcha buttercream (using krusteaz pancake mix)
Aisle 1, 2, … Bakery! Growing up, I loved going to the grocery store to get free cookies from the bakery. On rare occasions, my local Safeway would give away free Lofthouse sugar cookies – exceptionally soft sugar cookies, topped with thick layers of bright pink buttercream and rainbow sprinkles. Because my parents never bought them, it was a real treat for me to have one.
It was a Sunday evening, and I was craving a cookie. I scrolled through my saved recipes on NYT Cooking and came upon Eric Kim’s Soft Sugar Cookie with Raspberry Buttercream. Yes, that was what I needed! Only problem was I didn’t have cake flour or even all-purpose flour (to create a cake flour substitute).
Too lazy to leave my home, I turned to my pantry. Sitting in my pantry was a 10 lb bag of Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix that I recently bought from Costco.
Could I use pancake mix to make these cookies?
Maybe, let’s try!
In this recipe, I adapted eric kim’s recipe to make these Lofthouse style cookies.
soft sugar cookies with matcha & strawberry buttercream
Ingredients
cookie
matcha buttercream
- 4 tbsp (57 g) butter
- 7 tbsp (49 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp (3 g) culinary grade matcha powder
strawberry buttercream
- 4 tbsp (57 g) butter
- 7 tbsp (49 g) powdered sugar
- ½ cup (10 g) crushed freeze dried strawberries
optional
- matcha powder
- crushed freeze dried strawberries
- sprinkles
Instructions
make the cookie
- preheat the oven at 325 f.
- prepare a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
- mix the dry ingredients – krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix, corn starch, and salt – in a medium mixing bowl.
- cream the butter and cream cheese in a separate large mixing bowl for 20 – 30 secs on medium speed or until incorporated.
- mix granulated sugar to the butter and cream cheese mixture for 20 – 30 secs on medium speed or until incorporated.
- add an egg and vanilla extract. mix for for 20 – 30 secs on medium speed or until incorporated.
- sift dry ingredients into wet ingredients, and use a spatula to incorporate. the batter’s consistency will be in between cookie dough and cake batter. it will also be very sticky.
- use a 3 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop the dough into 6 balls onto the half sheet pan. ensure each ball is at least 3 inches apart.
- chill in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- bake for 13 – 15 minutes. they will look slightly undone in the centers.
- stick the pan directly into the freezer for 15 minutes.
make the buttercream
- make the matcha buttercream by creaming butter, powdered sugar, and matcha powder in a medium bowl for 1 min on medium low speed.
- in another medium bowl, do the same for strawberry buttercream.
assemble the cookie
- use the offset spatula to frost the cookies with generous amounts of buttercream. add sprinkles if you like.
- let's eat! 🙂
footnotes
storage
store in the freezer a plastic or reusable bag
special equipment
- Kitchen Scale: I am a huge proponent of kitchen scales! Mine is my best friend in baking. While cookies are generally forgiving and you could get away with using measuring cups, I recommend kitchen scales for accuracy and also less to clean!
- Hand Mixer: After 10 years with my corded hand mixer, I upgraded to the KitchenAid Cordless 7 Speed Hand Mixer. While the cordless mixer gives the versatility of making cookies anywhere, any hand mixer will work and are helpful to whip the butter and cream cheese together.
- Strainer: This ensures all the clumps in the pancake mix are removed.
- Spatula: This allows you to easily mix the wet and dry ingredients together.
- Cookie Scoop: This 3 tbsp cookie scoop makes it easy to shape and drop the extremely sticky cookie batter onto the half sheet pans.
- Half Sheet Pans: Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Half Sheet Pans are my favorite because they consistently bake cookies evenly.
- Offset Spatula: This offset spatula makes spreading matcha & strawberry buttercream easily on the cookies. any kind of metal spoon will also do.
tips
- how do i quickly bring butter and cream cheese to room temperature? My cravings are never planned, so I always run into this issue of not having room temperature ingredients. Here’s what I do for butter or cream cheese: Cut butter or cream cheese in 1 inch cubes. Place in a bowl and microwave for 10 seconds at a time until softened. I generally do not have to microwave for more than 20 seconds.
- How do I quickly bring eggs to room temperature? There are two ways to make eggs: 1) Let it sit in warm water for 5 – 10 minutes or until your fingers don’t feel the chill. 2) Let warm water run over the eggs for 2 – 3 minutes or until your fingers don’t feel the chill.
- How do I make strawberry powder? I use freeze dried strawberries! There are two ways to turn them into powder: 1) Use a food processor and pulse for a few minutes. 2) Put freeze dried strawberries in a reusable or plastic sandwich bag, and use a rolling pin (or cup) to manually crush it until you get a consistency you like.
did you make this recipe? i would love to see your creations! tag michelleqgbui on instagram and hashtag it #letsbake.
