Holiday Icebox Cookies
- 2 ½ cups flour, sifted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup butter
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup each red & green cherries
- 1/2 cup toasted almonds
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream brown sugar and butter
Add egg, slightly beaten along with almond extract and beat well.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt together, add to batter and mix well.
Chop almonds and cut up cherries and add them to mixture.
Shape dough into a roll.
Wrap in wax paper and chill in refrigerator until firm, or store in freezer until ready to use.
When ready to use (unfreeze, if required), and slice thinly with a sharp knife.
Bake until golden brown.
Makes 6 dozen cookies.
Did You Know?
The first cookies appear to have been created by accident! Cooks used small amounts of cake batter to test oven temperatures. These small test cakes were called “koekje”, meaning “little cake” in Dutch.
Icebox cookies became very popular in the 1930s, around the same time as the introduction of the electric refrigerator.
In 1957 Pillsbury announced a delicious addition to their line-up: icebox cookies in three flavours of Butterscotch Nut, Crunchy Peanut and Coconutare.
Icebox cookies use a simple dough as their base, with butter, sugar, flour, eggs, salt, flavouring and leavening agent.
Icebox cookies can be made in a multitude of flavours ranging from vanilla to chocolate to lemon or orange, and can be enhanced by adding nuts, fruits, cherries, and a variety of flavourings and spices.
The best thing about icebox cookies is that you make the dough, roll it in a log, and then refrigerate or freeze and use when needed. When ready to use, simply slice cookies off the log and bake for a fresh from- the-oven treat.
Icebox cookies make wonderful hostess gifts -- either baked up, or as frozen gifts to use when desired.