18 Icebox Cookie Recipes for Fresh Slice-and-Bake Treats Anytime (2024)

FAQs

How do you slice icebox cookies evenly? ›

As you cut your dough log into individual cookies, give it a quarter-turn every three or four slices to ensure that the knife doesn't flatten one side repeatedly against the cutting board. And voilà, perfectly round Maple Pecan Shortbread, World Peace Cookies, and Pistachio-Crusted Icebox Cookies.

As a general rule of thumb, you should refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. More than that, and you won't see a noticeable difference in the final product. Once the dough has chilled, let it warm up at room temperature until it's just pliable (about 5 to 10 minutes).

As little as 30 minutes in your fridge or freezer can help your cookie brown better, spread less, and develop a richer chewy texture. There's a few reasons why, but one important part is it gives the butter in your dough a chance to firm up before baking.

The Easy Way

Place the log on a sheet of plastic wrap at a long end, then roll it up to completely wrap it in plastic and twist and tie the ends together. Place it in the freezer for about an hour to firm up and then when you're ready to slice, unwrap the log and trim the rounded ends.

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you're more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, chewy cookies. Cookies made from chilled dough are also much more flavorful.

Sure, you can skip the chilling step and bake the dough right away, but doing so runs the risk of flat disks with dry edges and a brittle texture; a far cry for the plush, chewy cookies with fudge-like centers we all crave.

You can do either! Here's how: If chilling the entire mass of dough, place it in an airtight container. After the chill period, allow the dough to sit at room temperature until it's malleable enough to safely scoop (which can take over an hour depending on your kitchen environment).

As a general rule of thumb, 'drop cookies,' which include oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, and 'cut-out cookies,' such as gingerbread and sugar cookies, are freezer-friendly.

After baking, allow cookies to cool completely. Place them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet to freeze them, then store them in a freezer-safe zip-top storage bag labeled with the name and date. Squeeze out extra air and place flat in the freezer. To save space, you can flat-stack freezer bags.

Do cookies taste the same after freezing? ›

Cakey cookies, like madeleines, also don't freeze well. "They begin to lose moisture no matter how tightly they're wrapped," Wenk says. It is possible to resuscitate them with a few minutes in the oven after thawing, but they won't taste the same.

Refrigerator cookies are made from dough shaped into cylinders, refrigerated to become stiff, and then sliced and baked. Also known as icebox cookies or slice-and-bake cookies, these are a great prepare-ahead-of-time treats.

Simply measure and mark the desired width of each slice along the edge of the pan, then use a sharp knife to cut along the markings. This method can help ensure that each slice is perfectly uniform, even if you're working with an oddly shaped pan or unusual dimensions.