Refrigerator Cookies and Brown Sugar Refrigerator Cookies Recipe

Refrigerator cookies are made from a dough that is, as the name suggests, refrigerated and then sliced. Another name for these are icebox cookies. Back in the day, well, actually my mother's day, refrigerators were still known as iceboxes. For you young folk of the computer age, well before even my time refrigerators were not powered by electricity, but by large blocks of ice delivered by the ice man and his truck. Just my historical trivia for the week. Now back to the cookies:

Many of you are already familiar with this type of cookie - they can be purchased in the grocery stores as already prepared logs of cookie dough, of various brands, and sliced and baked. The advantage of refrigerator cookies is that the dough can be made in advance, refrigerated, and sliced and baked as needed, just as in the case of the store bought logs of dough.

Brown Sugar Refrigerator Cookies

Ingredients:

3 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped pecans

1. Sift flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. In large bowl of electric mixer, at medium speed, beat butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and continuing beating.
3. At low speed, beat in half the flour mixture until smooth. Mix in the rest, with hands, to form a stiff dough. Add nuts and mix well.
4. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough in thirds. With hands, shape each third into a roll about 8 inches long.
5. Wrap each in wax paper. Refrigerate until firm, about 8 hours. Note: The rolls may be stored in the refrigerator for about 10 days.
6. Preheat oven to 375 F. With sharp knife, cut 1/8-inch slices for baking. Rewrap rest of roll if not baking all of the dough that day and refrigerate.
7. Place slices, 2 inches apart, on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 7 to 10 min., or until lightly browned. Remove to wire rack and let cool.

Makes about 16 dozen.

General note about making any type of cookie: Cookies will harden while cooling. For that reason, if the color is right but they seem soft, remove them anyway. Otherwise you will overcook them.

About cookie sheets: Purchase the largest cookie sheets that will fit in your oven. I recommend the ones that are "double layered" for best results. They are more expensive, but worth the cost if you will be making cookies often. They can be found in better cookware shops like Williams Sonoma, or online.

Happy Baking!

Next Week: Drop Cookies