I knew that there are a lot of would-be bakers out there that have looked at all of the cookie recipes I have posted this week and thought, “yeah, that’s great but it’s just never going to happen,” and I wanted to have a recipe that was just for you. The basic slice-and-bake icebox cookie that takes to a thousand variations is something that every cook–even the intimidated ones–should have in their repertoire, for several reasons.
First of all, if you’re looking to please a crowd, you can’t go wrong with simplicity. You can leave these so-called “plain” (but I don’t think they are) or include an add-in, or several, from nuts, dried fruit, zest, extracts or ground nuts swapped or cocoa swapped for an equal quantity of flour. You wouldn’t believe how many famous cookie recipe have slice-and-bake style dough at their base.
The second reason a recipe such as this is awesome is that it doesn’t require a cookie cutter (but could be shaped, if you wanted to roll them out). But the third is really the clincher, and that is that you can make these cookies into their ready-to-slice tube and freeze them for a month or even longer, until you need them. I had no immediate need for these, so I sliced off a few to bake for pictures and tasting, and will use the rest for parties later this month. You can slice them right from a freezer with a sharp knife, though I find it a bit easier after leaving them in the fridge overnight. However, in order to keep them fresh, I wouldn’t store them in the fridge for more than a day or so.
I’m not the only one who dreamed of a basic cookie with infinite varieties this winter, but unfortunately the recipe I auditioned from the Everyday Food Magazine didn’t suit my finicky tastes. It was missing something I couldn’t put my finger on, but I think it was richness. Instead of encouraging you to use the Everyday Food recipe as your foundation, I’m suggesting different a base cookie recipe, adapted from (who else?) Dorie Greenspan. The optional add-ins are the same–with infinite varieties, or just the lemon-poppy and cranberry-orange I made–as is the technique. But I think you’ll like the core cookie a lot more.
Good luck and don’t forget to report back with your variations. I can’t wait to read what you all come up with.
Smitten Kitchen Went to Aruba and All I Got Were These Lousy Cookies! Deb and Alex have flown the snowy, slushy and biting cold coop this week for warm, sandy island shores and countless tubes of SPF 50, so comment responses are going to be slow until they return. In our absence, we leave you a Week of Cookies–this is recipe four of four.
One Year Ago: Parmesan Black Pepper Biscotti and Hazelnut Truffles
Slice-and-Bake Cookies
Adapted loosely from Dorie Greenspan
Makes about 50 cookies
2 sticks (8 ounces; 230 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (80 grams) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla or almond extract
2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
Options:
- Mix in grated zest of 2 oranges and 1/2 cup dried cranberries (I finely chopped them)
- Mix in grated zest of 2 lemons; coat with or mix in 1/4 cup poppy seeds (I mixed the poppy seeds in)
- Mix in grated zest of 2 limes; coat with 1/4 cup cornmeal
- Mix in 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots; coat with or mix in 1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
- Mix in 1/2 cup mini chocolate or peanut-butter chips
- Mix in 1/4 cup finely chopped candied ginger; coat with or mix in 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- Swap 1/4 cup of flour for unsweetened cocoa
- Swap 1/2 to 1 cup of flour for ground almonds, pecans, hazelnuts or walnuts
1. Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until it is smooth. Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and silky. Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla or almond, followed by the salt and any dried fruits, zest, nuts or seeds. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, beating just until it disappears. It is better to underbeat than overbeat at this point; if the flour isn’t fully incorporated, that’s okay just blend in whatever remaining flour needs blending with a rubber spatula. Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into a ball, and divide it in half. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
2. Working on a smooth surface, form each piece of dough into a log that is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches (2.5 to 3.2 cm) thick. (Get the thickness right, and the length you end up with will be fine.) Wrap the logs in plastic and chill for 2 hours. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.)
3. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. While the oven is preheating, roll cookie logs in any coatings of your choice. Then, using a sharp slender knife, slice each log into cookies about 1/3 inch (10 mm) thick. (You can make the cookies thicker if you’d like; just bake them longer.) Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets, leaving about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) space between them.
5. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are set but not browned. Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool to room temperature.
Do ahead: Packed airtight, the cookies will keep for about 5 days at room temperature, or in the freezer for a month. Unbaked logs can be frozen for longer.
Wow! Amazingly simple recipe, and so many variations! THANK YOU! This will be great to keep in the freezer for unexpected guests!
I hope you guys are having a great time in Aruba…. :-)
-Mona
These look fabulous, it never occurred to me to make different varieties from one batch. I’ve always just made sugar cookies. For me though, home made log cookies always conjure up memories of those frozen pillsbury log cookies, with the different motifs, like christmas tree or valentines day heart. My brother and I used to sneak pieces off the logs before we baked them. My mother always wondered how an entire log would disappear before baking.
Do you think you can cut these out with a cookie cutter?
Slice and bake sure is the way to go when you are trying to make a variety of cookies. It is so much easier! I was surprised to learn that the famous World Peace cookies were slice and bake too. This recipe is so versatile! I’m thinking about dried cherries and pistachio (red and green).
Hope you’re having a great time in Aruba!
Icebox cookies are the best! I once made cherry icebox cookies shaped as hearts for my daughter’s kindergarten class’ Valentine’s day party. I shaped the logs into hearts before chilling then sliced and baked. Big hit!
Thanks for all the great ideas. I am in need of a little simplicity right now but I appreciate the list of options to make the recipe special.
Thanks!http://birdfood-sharona.blogspot.com/
I had already planned out my cookie collection for this holiday, but had to add the peanut butter ones to it! These slice and bakes, and the espresso ones were already planned, straight out of Dorie’s book. But thank you for confirming that these can be rolled, and giving us ideas for changing them up. These are the best, no fail, can’t go wrong – everyone needs to make them.
YUM! I can’t wait to try these – especially the cranberry version.
I made your peanut butter cookie recipe for a party last week and it was a big hit… they disappeared really fast! And chicken n’ dumplings (again, from your blog) is on the menu for dinner tonight.
I made the cranberry almond tarts a couple of weeks ago, and while they were *delicious*, I had to scoop them out of my mini tartlet pans with a spoon! I guess the recipe doesn’t work with the tiny pans. I’ve never had a problem with them before, so I was surprised, but they just wouldn’t come out of the pans intact! I’ll make it again in a full-sized tart and see if that helps.
I made the rugelach pinwheels, the russian tea cakes, and the chocolate chip cookies!
all were fabulous – the rugelach in particular is my favorite –
happy holidays! and thanks for the recipes!
Hi
I have been using your espresso chocolate recipe this way since you posted it and had rave reviews from all my friends who have been popping in for coffee and a freshly baked biscuit straight out the oven. I use this method a lot since I am the only sweet biscuit eater in the house (partner is diabetic)and couldn’t normally eat a whole stack of fresh bakes by myself…yeah well, I COULD…but it would be just sooooo greedy eh!
A Merry Xmas and Happy New Year from an antipodean follower of your blog
Pauline
I REALLY liked these cookies. But I don’t like the egg yolk only…
I was trying to figure out how to adapt the World Peace Cookies to be not chocolate and then I can add in all the yummy flavored like these… Any ideas?
mmm let´s see, well, besides the variations you suggested I´d do:
-chai (I know you don´t like it, but I do :P: basically a bit of ginger, preferably fresh, ground cardamom, allspice, ground cloves and cinnamon.
-a simple topping of brown sugar-cinnamon-allspice for a bit of extra crunch.
– coffee-unsweetened cocoa-cinnamon for a mokaccino flavor (replacing part of the flour, of course)
-replacing about 1/2 cup of the flour with grated coconut and adding 2 teaspoons or so of lemon zest as well.
Store the cookie dough rolls in slit paper towel tubes to keep them nice and round. It helps when shaping the rolls too—just put the plastic wrapped dough in the tube and give it a few rolls on the counter to shape up and pop the whole thing in the fridge or freezer. Really keeps a nice round shape.
Marce – Any exact ingredients for the chai? That sounds amazing
Sharon- I don´t know how much of the ingredients you´d need for this particular recipe, but as a guide, I did something similar with a chocolate chip cookie recipe here http://pipinthecity.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/we-belong-together/ (it says 2 cloves, which is what I used, but that should be about 1/2 teaspoon or so… and it doesn´t hurt to try the raw dough to see if it´s spicy enough, please don´t tell me you´ve never tasted raw dough before! haha)
What do you think…almond extract with a thumbprint of raspberry on top? Will that work?
I love recipes like this that allow for a lot of personalization. I made two versions using the base recipe above: Lemon pepper and dried cherry, toasted coconut. The cherry coconut variation was definitely a keeper. Thanks for the inspiration/motivation with this recipe!
What a fabulous idea…I *love* lemon poppyseed. Too bad I am almost done with my cookie making this season, maybe I can sneak these in!
Love it! Ten recipes in one. The poppyseed variation looks so delicious!
Oh man. These are fantastic… I made the cranberry/orange because I had a lot of oranges, but I think next time I’d do a nut version… maybe pecan with a brown sugar/cinnamon swirl? or sour cherries with pistachios? mmm.
I’m a baking amateur and have some questions.
The dough is really sticky. How on earth do you get it to roll into a tube like that? It sticks to the parchment. Having troubles. Help!
You can plop the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap in a tube shape, roll it up and then twist each end in different directions. That should give you a tube. Once cold you should be able to remove the plastic wrap and wrap the dough tube in any thing you would like. Another idea is to chill the dough until firm and then then roll it into a tube shape.
I hope these ideas help :)
Thank you. Thank you a thousand times, Deb!
Mmmm… me want cookies too! I can’t wait to make these. Planning a white chocolate chunk, dried cherry, and roll the log in praline variation. Should be pretty and super yummy! Thanks for the great base recipe to create from!
first off all – they look great, i’ll give them a try for sure! and secondly, i’m so glad you post how much you need of it in gram too because most of the english written recipes i find i can’t cook because we (austria) don’t have those measuring cups.
so YAY for this :D
*bookmarks*
Deb, oh wow you came home to such miserable weather. Hope you had a wonderful vacation in Aruba. AAAAAAAAAAAH wish I was in the sun and sand too! I’ve been baking WAY TOO much since you were away. These blogs are such an inspiration, but horrible on my wasteline! Can’t wait to hear about your trip and see some photos too!
Strangely, I have very little patience for sliced cookies. I find drop cookies very satisfying – somehow they’re perfect in their own free-form way, and I can never get slice cookies to be perfect.
Welcome back Deb!! Bury yourself away from this rainy miserable weather, and be sure to delight us all with pictures of the beach!
I just made these with 1/2 a cup of bitter chocolate chips and the zest of 2 oranges and they are amazing! I’m only 14, and when I do bake it’s usually cookies or cakes, but these have gone down better than anything that I have ever baked before.
Thanks a lot for the recipe and I hope you had a great holiday.
Wasteline… very funny, Rachael. Mine is a wasteland of holiday baking also, and with such incredible recipes who can blame me? I just made these with dried cranberries and orange zest — scrum-diddly-icious! Also swapped 1 cup of flour for ground almonds, but had to add a little more regular flour just to get the dough managable. Can’t wait to try a few more varieties. Deb, I hope you are posting salads all January!
When do you add the extracts? I added them with the egg but just wondering…
Hi all – I’m a SK newbie and an amateur cook/baker – but I’m learning fast. First off have to say I’m ADDICTED to The Smitten Kitchen – I love the recipes, writing and pics. Secondly – These cookies were my first attempt – the dough tasted divine – I used a berry and cherry nut blend from the store – dried cherries, blueberries, gogi berries, roasted almonds and pistachios. Next time I think I’d add the zest of an orange to brighten the flavor. Not bad for my first try – it can only get better!
I made your espresso-chocolate chip shortbread yesterday and it came out great, though something went wrong in the process and I had to add more coffee to make the dough come together. Still, delicious. And here I was wondering what to do with all the poppy seeds I have acquired recently (through forgetting that I had already restocked).
Sounds good, and just like the kinda cookie dough I need for next year – anything that can be made and frozen ahead of time to just be baked a few days before would help prevent the chaos that broke out in my kitchen this year!
yum-o…… I made these for xmas treats and they were sooooo tasty they nearly didnt make it out the door….. hehe…
thanx for the recipe…
hope you had a merry xmas…
luv Abby
These were so delicious!! I made some with an imprint which I filled with cherry jam and chopped brandied cranberries, some with a chocolate candy in the middle and some rolled in rock sugar for the kiddos. Such a great & versatile recipe! Thanks!
I made these cookies, with nutella / granola / cranberries / chocolate chips
They turned out so good the whole batch was gone before dinner ended.
I like that it can be frozen, so whenever craving calls, just cut + bake.
Thank you so much (:
Love your recipes, not very helpful when I’m trying to lose weight though, ha.
I have a leetle tiny hint though– when working with dried fruit in scones and cookies and most dough-centric baked goods with little moisture content– re-constitute dried fruit, if even a little bit. With water or alcohol or heated vinegar. Otherwise when dried fruit is in that dough it pulls out a lot of the moisture to re-constitute itself, rendering said baked good a little drier than one might hope for.
I also love verjus for this purpose because it adds no more sucrose and helps the dried fruit become a little more like itself before it dried out. :}
I made three batches for a New Year’s Party. (http://a-side-of-beef.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-years-chili-other-goodies.html)
Being able to make them days in advance of baking was a great help. The cranberry-orange was very popular. I made the lemon poppyseed with lemon extract instead of vanilla, which added a nice extra bit of lemon. I also did chocolate chip with almond extract, rolled in coconut flakes. The almond extract didn’t really work (IMO), but the coconut flakes were a nice touch. I was afraid they might brown, but they were fine.
I did have problems with the cookies browning, which didn’t bother me but your recipe suggests this shouldn’t be happening. Any ideas why the bottoms brown before the cookies set? (Too cold of cookies? Too hot of an oven?)
I’ve enjoyed your site and plan on trying some more of your recipes.
Hi Deb,
Recently initiated to your site, i’m completely and utterly hooked! I decided last night at 2 am to give this recipe a try and make two different batches. Im not a big fan of cranberries but finding a packet of dried cranberries and leftover chopped nuts (pistachios, almonds and pecans) i decided to chop the nuts and the cranberries super finely and made that one batch. The second batch was also resourceful for using up my leftover mix of cinnamon and sugar from last week’s baking adventures (i made snickerdoodles). Wrapping it all up in the middle of the night and safely placing them in the fridge, i went to bed. When this morning came i was super excited to slice and bake them! Deb, the nuts and cranberries batch tasted exactly like the danish cookies i used to eat as a kid!
Im definately gonna go bake a few more when i get home from work tonight! Thank you for your great recipes, pictures and for giving us a glimpse of your life!
this is an utterly awesome recipe! you could make a thousand different flavoured cookies with it! :D i used dried bing cherries with lemon zest: delicious!
however i did have some problems with the dough – it was way too sticky and soft for me to roll and cut it so i rolled it between clingfilm and popped it in the freezer to harden before i could cut it without it being squashed.
but that’s okay, if i have to do that to get it right, i’d gladly do it! my family loves it! thanks again!
Hi Again,
I tried these cookies last night, mixing in the zest of one large orange, 1/2 c. chopped orange-flavored cranberries (from Trader Joe’s) and 1/2 c. chopped pecans. They look beautiful and taste great too!
I noticed that your recipe differed from Dorie’s in that you used only confectioners’ sugar, and one egg yolk instead of two. I’m curious as to why you did this? Does it make the end cookie softer, more delicate, crunchier, etc.? I decided to go with all confectioners’ sugar as well, but did two egg yolks instead of one. I’ve tried Dorie’s original recipe and I guess I’d describe this version as more “delicately sandy” than hers. Was this the intention? I’d be interested to know.
I also tried your Classic Brownies recipe last night and they were awesome. In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, I made them in heart-shaped cupcake molds, and topped each heart with a split walnut piece (so it kind of made a mini-heart inside the brownie heart). The rest of the walnut pieces I folded into the batter. They’re tucked away in the freezer now, but my mouth is already watering at the prospect of making brownie caramel sundaes out of them. Hope they make it til the 14th!
Hi Amanda–Actually, the reason for the missing egg yolk is an error (!) on my part. It should be two–big apologies for that one. The granulated sugar in Dorie’s original recipe was to coat the cookies, something I was not looking for in this version. The cookie itself had only the confectioners’ sugar, which makes for a very tender, but not overly sweet, cookie.
Ah ha, thanks for the explanation! I must have been comparing your recipe to a different one of Dorie’s (I was looking at her Sables from Baking: From My Home to Yours, where she uses both sugars in the dough. whoops.) Though I suppose it doesn’t matter either way, anyhow–it all turned out delicious in the end! Thanks again :)
Hi Deb:
Help!
I tried this recipe today with cranberry and orange zest. I followed the instructions carefully, but the cookies turned out to be thinner than yours. It seems that when the cookies were bakes, heat made them spread out. What can I do to change? They still tasted good though. Thanks a million.
Deb, I have been making these cookies every thursday for my office for the past month+ and everyone keeps asking for more. I just posted about it on my blog: onehungrysoul.blogspot.com. Thank you for the recipe!
Deb,
I have been reading your site for about 6 months now and am always inspired. Just wanted to let you know that I am always looking for recipes to make for and with my son – but he has egg allergies and baking has been difficult. These cookies work great with 1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt instead of eggs. I keep a log of dough frozen and just bake up a few whenever special treats are in order for preschool. Our favorite combo so far is dried cherry and bittersweet chocolate. Delicious!
Hi! I have two batches (lemon poppyseed and dark chocolate-almond) chilling in the fridge right now – thanks!
One question though – I totally fail to understand your last sentence: “Unbaked logs can be frozen for longer.” …help? I mean, is there any scenario where the full logs *would* be baked? What am I missing here?
OK, I know this is a year late (although I DID bookmark this last year) but I think you’ve just saved me :) I have a newborn, and I’m hosting a piano recital for my 12 students and all their families, AND a caroling party this week. I need LOTS of cookies, fast. These are perfect!
I made these and they did not turn out well. I added apricots and chopped almonds. Mine taste like sand. Most of the batch went in the garbage. I guess I must have overcooked them?
I just had an epic fail with these, too. I used my gluten-free flour mix (which I always use) and they taste like someone dropped chocolate chips in a sandbox. Can’t figure out what went wrong. I substituted cashew/coconut butter for the dairy butter, but usually that gives correct viscosity and flavor. A mystery. Dang. I love SK recipes and never before made a recipe that didn’t work!
Did you use cashew butter, like the spread, or did you use a nondairy butter? I’m thinking the combination of the fat change and the flour change in the recipe with so few ingredients, were what threw it off.
Deb these are amazing – so melt-in-the-mouth. I made orange and cranberry and they are fabulous, pure fabulousness!
Thanks for another great recipe, Deb! I added toffee chips (no coffee, choc, etc as my husband just wanted a toffee flavor), and it worked well. I used a 1/2 cup of chips and kept the rest of the recipe the same. I also put it in the freezer for an hour (rather than fridge for 2 hrs) for quickness sake, and it worked out fine. It was helpful for me to let the cookies sit on the sheet a few minutes after they came out of the oven so that the chips could re-harden after melting a bit while in the oven. Thanks again for sharing!
Robin: You might have missed shuna fish lydon’s comment at #35, to reconstitute dried fruit, lest it suck the moisture out of the dough.
For a baby shower, I made a batch of lemon ginger (lemon zest and chopped candied ginger) and batch of cocoa toffee (using cocoa powder and chopped up heath bars). Pregnant women sure love cookies.
Please, I think when you add a comment it should be your experience in making them. Too many people say things that make no sense…”looks good”….”can’t wait to try the recipe” Those comments don’t help the readers who actually bake cookies. Don’t tell me what you want to do…..please do them and then share your experience in baking an actual cookie….Thanks…Jeff
(: this recipe is so simple, and so delicious.
i added orange zest, minced dried cranberries, and minced dried blueberries into mine, and i really loved how it turned out!
thank you for this recipe. i am definitely going to experiment with more variations
I made these with white choc pieces and then just prior to baking pushed frozen rasphberries into the top, works with strawberry pieces too.
I made this recipe at the weekend and really loved it. Is it ok if I reproduce the recipe on my blog – I would of course credit you and your blog for the recipe. I made apricot and almond cookies and they were delish!
Glad you liked them. The recipe should be in your own words and with your own pictures, and credit Smitten Kitchen as the place you found it.
I made these today using glace cherries and almond extract and they were delicious. I’ve never used this type of recipe for making cookies before, but I can see me using it a great deal more often.
Gotta try this one..
I NEVER (except for once in 2001) post comments. But I really must for smittenkitchen. LOVE it.
First love were pictures – oh, so YUMMY looking, and they did a wonderful job of tempting me to try… Throughout the summer I often found myself clicking through your recipes just to check out the pictures – no joke. Upon closer perusal, I was so happy to see thorough, clearly written directions (I’m a novice!) – even more encouraging.
I finally tried a few recipes – first, just the sweet (just stuck the slice and bake dough in the fridge, 2nd time to make! My husband actually requested these cookies after the success of my first attempt (chopped up golden raisins the first time, this time with toffee – had no gallon ziplocks, so couldn’t make the espresso shortbread…actually I was down to the very last of my plastic wrap and might have to just drop the chilled dough – Rachel’s comment makes me think this’ll work).
Last night I made your Arroz Con Pollo and followed Nathan’s tips. My husband is Cuban and he REALLY LIKED it. On TOP of that, I’ve been teased about my inability to properly cook rice. Not last night. He asked for MORE! Crazy. Very cool. I so happy last night! Like SO happy. Kind of ridiculous, but true.
Thank you, thank you. I love your style. Your approach and your writing makes cooking less daunting – but even as a novice you make it FUN. Very worthwhile.
Hello! I made the lemon poppy seed version with a little lemon extract thrown in. The resulting cookies were WONDERFUL. The lemon flavor and the crunch of the poppy seeds was a delicious combination, and the texture of the cookie was amazing. So crumbly and delicate. I can’t wait to experiment more with this recipe!
i’m thinking of trying these with chocolate chips then rolling it in coconut… would that work?
I made these yesterday without any of the add-ins. Actually, what I was making initially, were my Aunt’s Sandbakkels (a scandinavian christmas cookie made in a speciality sandbakkle or tart mold) The recipe happens to be identical. Don’t hesitate to make these plain, as they are just delicious and taste very much like that Walker’s Shortbread cookie that I love. The molded cookies didn’t work out so well for me as the dough was too tender and broke apart getting them out of the mold. For the molded cookie, the dough needs to be worked or kneaded more. Frankly, I like cookies more tender, so the slice and bake route allowed for the gentle handing and made a perfectly crisp and tender cookie.
I just made these cookies in three versions:
Vegan Orange Cranberry
Vegan Chocolate Cranberry
and plain, dipped in chocolate.
I subbed out the egg yolks for one mashed banana in the vegan versions, and used margarine instead of butter in those ones. I had a problem with spreading in the plain batch (using butter/eggs) and in the chocolate/cran batch. They’re still delicious, just very thin and crispy/chewy. The orange/cran batch came out just like in the photos.
These were very easy to adapt for my multiple food allergies (gluten/dairy/eggs/soy), so if anyone else needs to adapt these, this is what I did:
I subbed 1/3 cup of flour for cocoa powder, 1/2 cup for ground hazelnuts, and replaced the other half with equal amounts of sorghum flour and potato starch.
Ran out of margarine, so the last 1/4 cup of butter was replaced by applesauce.
Ener-G for the egg yolks – I used 1 tbsp of the powder to 2 tbsp of water. My dough was very sticky, and so I added in flour a tbsp at a time until everything held together better. I think I ended up adding about 1/4 cup.
Tasting the dough, I didn’t think it was sweet enough, so I sprinkled sugar on top before baking.
Baked them for 10 minutes only – gluten-free baked goods tend to brown more quickly. Delicious! A subtle, chocolately hazelnutty cookie – very tender – they melt in the mouth. I probably would have baked these for 9 or even 8 minutes if I did this again; they came out a tiny bit too dry – but that might be because I skimped on the fat.
Deb, your recipes are often so easy to adapt. I am grateful that you take the time to fill the internets with quality recipes for us to play with!
These look SO delicious.
Yay!! I’ve been looking for something like this. I have a “if I can make it myself then we DO NOT buy it from the store” rule. It’s better for the world and it’s my version of a diet. If I have to make the potato chips from scratch I don’t eat them as often. Well, my husband came home for the store yesterday with three bags of cookies! Traitor! His excuse? I don’t keep enough cookies in the house. I don’t keep cookies in the house because for every ONE he eats…I eat TEN. I have no self control (and I work from home….). These are perfect. He can have fresh cookies when he wants them and I will still be able to fit into my pants. Thank you!
These WERE delicious. I made them with slivered almonds, and swapped out some of the flour for cocoa, ground almonds and ground up chocolate chips. A little dry when they first came out of the oven, but much better (admittedly at breakfast) the morning after.
Thanks for this yummy recipe! I made mine with orange flavored dried cranberries and semi-sweet chocolate. I diced them both, but I understand why you suggest mini chocolate chips. I shared this link with my readers, so hopefully they will try the recipe and enjoy it too!
Deb: I really want to try these but do you think they would work as a scooped cookie? I really hate to roll into a log and slice cookies. It is soooo hard to do from the freezer though I might try your trick of defrosting them in the fridge over night. They do sound very good.
I made these last evening with 1/2cup of chopped Trader Joe’s “natural” dried sweet cherries and almond extract to highlight the cherry-ness a bit more (I’m a cherry fanatic). The recipe worked swimmingly without problems. These will be great for shipping to some pals. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Just wanted to let you know: I’ve been making these for years now, altering the recipe to suit the occasion, and they’re some of my all-time favorites. Thank you, bless you, you have saved my cookie-baking life a hundred times.
I always look at your website and today I needed to make Christmas cookies for the grandparents. I have just moved house and none of my cook books have arrived – however I did have my laptop and an already fully set up kitchen! I looked though the new flatmates cookbooks and wasn’t inspired then I remembered your website! BLISS
easy to bake cookies!! especially since its 30degrees C here and I needed easy, quick and no slaving over a hot stove! THANK YOU SO MUCH! & happy holidays!
I made this for the holidays and I wanted to share my variation because these were the clear favorite out of all the cookies I made. I added in a heaping tablespoon of cinnamon, little pinch of fresh grated nutmeg and chopped dried apricots to the dough and I rolled the chilled dough in chopped pistachios before slicing. They were delicious!
fabulous recipe. I added 1 whole mango- pureed, dried cranberries finely minced, and orange zest- along with a little more flower and 1/2 tsp baking powder (because I was worried about the wet mango addition) But it turned out great. I’m sure that I’ll use this recipe again. Thank you very much.
I like to make the plain cookies, then just keep those in my freezer. if I want nuts, I just press nuts onto the top. same goes for about everything else. it’s very easy and great if you want just a cookie or two :D
Just made a batch of these, half lemon-lavender w/ poppy seeds, the other half brown butter w/ toasted chopped walnuts. Rolled ’em up and plan on baking a bunch for a “cheap-yet-thoughtful” baby shower gift. If the baked cookies taste as good as the dough I tastefully licked off the spatula, I’m going to have a hard time parting with these. Thanks, Deb!
Great recipe. Not too sweet, good texture. Made the following combos successfully:
-cocoa, topped with chopped walnuts
-almond extract, topped with chopped almonds
-brown butter, topped with brown sugar (very, very good, sehaj :D)
Next, I’d like to try limoncello + honey. Any suggestion as to how much of these liquids can be added and by how much to decrease the sugar would be appreciated.
Thanks again for this great cookie.
Raylan: The brown butter ones are amazing, right? I had a hard time giving those away! The lavender ones were fantastic too. I slowly melt a batch of butter with a good tbsp or two of lavender buds, let that steep for a while, then take out the lavender. Freeze the butter and use it later in whatever you want lavender flavored.
I’m making these yet again, as I try to procrastinate instead of doing what I should be doing (mainly writing a feature script…oh my life…). Half plain and half with cocoa, and I’m turning them into sandwich cookies with some leftover ganache I’ve got lying around. Sort of a black and white (with black in the middle) kinda thing.
Is there a substitute for confectioner’s sugar? I know it’s such a simple recipe but I haven’t any in the house. :(
I made these and they were very tasty, but: they didn’t spread at all! At all! Seriously, they were inch-round third-inch-high discs going in and coming out. If anyone has any idea what I could possibly have done wrong, I’d love to know. Should I maybe have let the rounds sit out for a while before baking them, instead of putting them in the oven practically straight from the fridge?
Hi Karla — They’re not supposed to spread.
Have the batter made and in the fridge. I made the lemon poppy variation to use up some of my many poppy seeds. The batter taste great! Thanks for the recipe file Deb.
Humidity is still high in Tokyo and I probably did not add enough (or any!) flour to balance it; So these cookies did spread just a little but looked great. Most importantly they are absolutely delicious and provide the perfect base to many variations, I imagine they’d be just perfect on their own too. Tastes like Christmas!! (This time: brown butter and tea) Thanks Deb, another keeper and life-saver for holiday parties!
This is nothing groundbreaking, but I have made these SO MANY times and they are always a winner. I have tried:
– add half a cup of chopped glace ginger and roll logs in sesame seeds
– add 2T lemon zest and ice with lemon glaze
– add 1/4C chopped mixed peel & 1/4C currants and roll logs in chopped almonds
– add 1t cinnamon & 1t nutmeg and roll logs in cinnamon & granulated sugar
– swap out 1/2C flour for 1/2C cocoa and top with a freckle chocolate (i’m from Australia. does freckle translate?)
– swap out 1/2C flour for 1/2C cocoa, roll logs in dessicated coconut and top with half a glace cherry
Recently I had a work function sprung on me and was able to bake from a frozen log on the morning of the morning tea. I had delicious, home-baked cookies in 20 minutes with zero hassle or washing up. Fabulous!
+1 on the glaze idea! This is a decade + later, but I made the lemon poppy seed version and found them pleasant but lacking a little…something. I made some glaze using powdered (icing) sugar, fresh lemon juice, and a SCANT few drops of almond extract. I just drizzled that haphazardly over the cookies rather than fully covering each one, and that was just what they needed. Three heaping large spoonfuls of powdered sugar (and liquid to make that a good drizzling consistency) was enough to glaze a half-batch of the cookies.
Just made these for the first time; have had the recipe bookmarked for a while. They are amazing! I did lemon poppy and orange cranberry. I added the juice of an orange and a lemon to the doughs because I wanted the citrus to be a bit bolder. I LOVE how they came out and I didn’t even bake all of them off. Happy to have more to make on a moment’s notice. Thanks for this!
I took a Martha Stewart recipe and used it here: zest of one orange and 2 tablespoons ground earl grey tea. Yummy!
Hi, just an observation: the recipe doesn’t appear to clearly indicate when the vanilla/almond extract is to be added in. I missed it on my first time through preparing the dough, so I’m hoping they still turn out okay. I’m assuming it just goes in at the same time as the egg yolks? Thanks :)
Love the texture you get from powdered sugar instead of regular. Favorite combo – 1/2 cup golden raisins, 1/2 cup pine nuts, 2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary. Delish and so EASY. Thanks Deb.
Chopped up Callebaut dark chocolate chips and toasted hazelnuts. oh my, yes.
I tried but the cookies were all crumbly, maybe because I added 15g less butter. I still have 3 batches of dough in the fridge. Would keeping it in the fridge for longer help? Or put it in the freezer? Maybe I should keep it in the oven for a shorter time? Last time I left it in for 16min. please help!!
The butter could be the culprit. It would be about 1/16 short of what was needed, and throw off the balance.
I made these tonight for my family and they were a hit! We were running low on baking supplies so I used a can of pecans we already had and a bit of coconut. I ended up having to make them drop cookies, so they looked kinda funny, but I think the recipe works just as good for drop. They tasted like Sandies, only a bit softer. Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve only just got around to commenting, but these cookies made my first christmas living with my boyfriend a really good one. I really like being a good hostess and it was lovely to have warm cookies on the table whenever anyone dropped round. We also enjoyed slicing and baking a few in the evenings to nibble w=while we watched christmas films.
Argh! I just re-read my (ambiguous) previous comment and need to clarify – I meant to say _my comment_ is nothing groundbreaking, not the recipe :/ The recipe breaks serious ground :P :)
I made them again recently with gingerbread-style spices in the dough and currants pressed onto the top of the sliced cookies. Yum!
Nice recipe…easy to follow and make plus the cookies are delicious. I followed someone’s earlier recommendation and rolled the dough in a split paper towel tube, this made for nice even circles. My take was to roll the logs in rainbow non pariels before slicing them. Just the right touch for a birthday party.
Girl, hold on to your panties for this mix-in combo: I used half of this recipe and mixed in one chopped habanero (removed the seeds and membranes) and white chocolate chips. I’m not even a fan of spicy (can’t tolerate it), and it was good! Was a huge hit at the office! I’ll be making a mondo batch of this soon!
I’ll also add that this was kind of a short-bread type cookie.
I have been making this recipe since it was posted a few years back. This year I combined cocoa powder and finely chopped almonds along with the vanilla extract and they are amazing. Not too sweet, very rich, and a nice crunch.
These were a big hit with my boyfriend and his family (yay, bonus points! lol). As suggested, I replaced 1 cup flour w/ 1 cup ground almonds. I made two logs: 1 w/ dried cranberries + unsalted pistachio’s & 1 w/ chia seeds, unsweetened shredded coconut + dried apricots. I think they bake a bit differently with the ground almonds, but are still totally D-lish.
Made these yesterday–tried them plain and they were a flop! I think they were too plain. I coated them with chocolate and they were improved. Alone they had a nice texture but no real flavor. I like how simple they are and will make them again with the suggested fillings!
Made these for the zillionth time this week. Meyer lemon zest brings out that fruit’s true flavor. For my husband the toffee lover, the Heath toffee chips (1/2 cup) makes him happy. Great as always — thanks!
these did not work for me! I don’t get it. They’re too dry. Full disclosure: I added a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice, for flavor. Also I halved the recipe. Oh, and I added 3 extra cups of whole wheat flour (kidding! just the lemon juice & halving)
Could either of those changes mess it up?
It’s hard for me to say whether they were just not what you’d hoped for or if something went wrong. Extra lemon juice can throw the structure (might lead to spreading, too). The cookies should be crisp and buttery, something between a shortbread and a sable. Halving it shouldn’t be an issue. Oh, and you’re funny. Please stay. :)
I’ve tried toffee chips + oatmeal and chopped up almond + raisins. Both were a hit!
I just made these and blogged about them! I made several batches and gave the dough away as gifts with tagged instructions about how to slice and bake. Such a hit. I made the lemon poppy seed version, and am hoping to try some chocolate variety soon!
One of my concerns when I was making these was when it said to make them into 1 and 1/4 inch logs. That seemed very small around to me, but magically, when they were baked, they seemed fine. Not too small at all. That’s why I always trust the recipes on SK! They are perfect…
Any suggestion for how to get shapes inside them, à la those Pillsbury cookies of my youth?
Hi! I was trying to make this reipe and you mentioned to divide the oven into thirds, but not which rack to use. I’ll assume it’s the top rack, I just wondered what you had in mind. I made your best birthday yellow cake today, and ate half a pan for lunch. Pregnancy cravings are doing a number on me. I made your egg salad yesterday, it was wonderful. Anyway, just wondered about the placement of the racks. Thank you, you are such an inspiration!
I finally had occasion to make these. I made them “plain” with just almond and a bit of vanilla extract, but I separated the dough to knead gel food color in and make rainbow flags. I was afraid all the kneading in color and rolling out layers would toughen up the cookie from over-manipulation, but nope. They still taste great! I am bringing them to our Pride parade this weekend.
thank you for the lovely recipe! swapped some of the flour for cocoa and they were wonderful!
Something is terribly wrong with this recipe. I just mixed it up. Is so very sticky and I can’t work it into logs. It must need to have a lot more flour or something, Because it notes 50 cookies and with these two globs of dough I would be lucky to get 25. I have gone back and read and reread the recipe. Everything is in there plus I added another half cup of flour trying to make the dough workable.
Just baked it this morning and they were great! I substituted 80 grams of almond flour for a different texture and taste. I like it that they are not too sweet. I half the batch to make one with poppy and orange zest and the other with chocolate chips. love them both. I’ll definitely try some more varieties.
Thank you very much, Deb. Your blog is a pleasure to read and the recipes are guaranteed a success every single time. :)
I could never get 50 cookies out of this recipe! Also tried to roll out the dough to cut shapes and it was not great.
Hi Deb,
Thanks for so many delicious recipes! The tomato and sausage risotto has become a staple at my house – and we like it as much or more than any we’ve had in a 5 star restaurant.
I just made this cookie recipe for Christmas. I am gluten free and used Glutino all purpose baking flour and the cookies turned out GREAT! I put in 1/4 cup of cranberries and the zest of one lemon and 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips – the cookies melt in my mouth!
You’re a genius! Thanks for sharing your gift with us!
God bless,
Bethany
I got about 56 cookies (1/3 inch slices) when I rolled the dough into 1.25 inch wide logs.
hi deb, do you think i could replace the confectioners’ sugar with brown granulated sugar?
I came by to print out the strada recipe even though I own your book…apartment living I can rarely find anything.
But the Slice-and-Bake Cookies caught my eye and I noticed the poppyseed lemon combo, my gran made the absolute best poppyseed cookies of course no recipe…can’t wait to try yours…
Thank you
Just found your site today……..wow! Cooking and baking is a hard thing for my wife and I to find time for with a toddler and infant. But with the simplicity and ease of your website, we just might be able to get a few things made. Thank you (ahead of time) for making these incredible recipes come to life in our kitchen…..
How did I find it? I searched “honey cakes,” as they are a constant subject on my two year old’s favorite cartoon, Bananas in Pajamas. Interesting ingredients, we’ll have to try it. Thanks again!
Hi Deb!
Was just wondering about the rack position. I have divided the racks to thirds but I’m not sure which rack to use? The bottom or the top? The recipe looks lovely though. Can’t wait to try it!
Lina — If you’re not sure, always safest to start in the middle. Beyond that, it tends to vary by oven.
I don’t know why, but I try recipes from other sites and they don’t turn out as perfect as Deb’s! Wonder, why with so many failures I still look for other recipes!! Your recipes have NEVER failed me!! Thanks a ton!!
Has anyone successfully made one batch into two different kinds of cookies? Since the mix-ins go in before the dry ingredients, any tips on doing that? I know I can just make 2 batches ;) and I probably will….
Yeah, it might be easier to just do it in two parts with this recipe.
My first log is sitting in my refrigerator right now, and it I don’t make three more before the end of the year–all different flavors–I’ll be shocked. This was so easy, and playing with the mix-ins is SO much fun. I had regular chocolate chips instead of mini, so I made an executive decision to chop them up a bit…in my coffee grinder. If I’m lucky, I’ll have “invented” a mocha shortbread. If I goofed, the recipe didn’t take nearly as long as any other cookie in my repertoire, so I don’t care. ;)
Made the slice and bake cookies rolled them into a ball and they came out flat as pancake why?
Danielle — This isn’t a drop cookie; they don’t hold up well when shaped into balls. It’s really intended to be sliced from a log. That said, too much spreading is usually an issue of too little flour, too much butter, perhaps using buttered baking sheets instead of parchment-lined, etc. but it’s hard to say for sure here that they are the culprit. It might be more about this dough really working best when sliced thin.
These, subbing in cocoa as described and mixing in chopped dried cherries and mini chocolate chips, then pressing a granola-encrusted pecan (http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/11/granola-crusted-nuts/) into each one before baking. My family was very happy with my experiment.
Hi! I was wondering, how wide (in diameter) would these cookies be after baking? And what should I do if I put them in the freezer– should I thaw them out to room temp and cut before popping them in the oven or what? I think this recipe is so great! I’m planning on making a lot for my family next month.
As a mix in, try chopped fresh rosemary and mini chocolate chips. So yummy!
Do you know you left the vanilla/almond extract out of this recipe.
Nope, but now I do. :) Thank you, now fixed.
I wish to make very thin wafer type – how long do you think I should bake them?
Carol — It’s not an exact science; less of course, but keep an eye on the first batch and you’ll have an idea of how long the rest will need to bake.
These are fantastic! I’ve made them with orange/cranberry and lemon/poppyseed in the past; this time I decided to experiment a little. I used a couple of tablespoons of a looseleaf chai with cacao nibs that I got from a local market (which looked and smells amazing, but has so far failed to produce a single good cup of tea – siiiiigh), plus vanilla extract, cinnamon and cardamom. Then just as I was going to slice the cookies, I remembered I had a tin of chai-spiced cocoa sitting in the pantry, so on impulse I rolled the logs in that before slicing. Probably didn’t really alter the taste (which was great!), but I liked the two-toned look it created.
I’ve been making 1/2 batch of these per week for my husband and I to have with our coffees at work, and they are fantastic. This week we tried black rock salt (about a heaping 1/2 teaspoon for a 1/2 batch) with chopped dried cranberries – the salt looked really cool and the taste was amazing! Last week was dark chocolate and mint, with mint extract subbed for vanilla and fresh mint leaves finely chopped. For those who (like me) hate dealing with leftover egg whites, I’ve tried the full recipe using two egg yolks and then using one whole egg, and I thought both ways turned out great. Thanks for a great base recipe Deb!
If you’re intending that this recipe be prepared by beginners, you should really clarify the amount of butter used in this recipe. Because of the way it was worded (2 sticks; 230g and I was able to find 230g sticks), I doubled the butter and ended up with a greasy mess instead of cookies. I wasn’t experienced enough to realize the error until they tried to bake. Since sticks of butter come in all sizes, why not simply list the mass of butter required without referencing an ambiguous number of sticks? I stuck the butterballs in the freezer in hopes that I can double the rest of the ingredients and salvage it later.
TAYLOR SWIFT JUST MENTIONED YOU IN A TUMBLR POST!!!! She said “If you want another great baking blog I get a lot of ideas from smittenkichen.com too!” THATS SO COOL!!!
Your blog is typically one of my first stops to search for recipes. You never dissapoint. A version of this recipe was published in a Sunday paper many years ago and I had lost my clipping. Happy to find it, and my grandma’s recipe for Hello Dollie’s here as well. Thank you!
Hello Deb! Another add-in combination you should try is chopped fresh rosemary and mini chocolate chips. It is my favorite combination and so tasty. Happy holidays!
For anyone still checking comments for extra ideas, I went the cocoa substitution route and added cinnamon, chili powder and pistachios. A slightly Mexican vibe!
Hi Deb
Can I replace the butter for margarine, to make the cookies parve?
I can’t wait to make these and can promise you that I will because you have taken the time to include the weight in grams for us Europeans who can’t seem to manage cups and sticks! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Thank you also for the pleasure Smitten Kitchen and your wonderful book have given me this year, I’m looking forward to what’s coming next (and learning to love kale ; )).
Many thanks and Happy Holidays from Dublin, Ireland.
Okay, I just finished making 4 batches of this cookie recipe with these variations.
Lemon poppyseed, orange chocolate chip, coconut lime, and peppermint mocha with instant coffee granules, cocoa powder and crushed candy cane. I can’t wait to bake them. For now they are chilling out! I am eagerly awaiting them.
I did them with chopped dried apricot and chopped fresh rosemary (about one sprig worth for the whole recipe) in the vanilla extract version, and chopped dried cherries and chopped roasted salted almonds in the almond extract version. Yum! So easy!
Claudia — Check out Comments #63 and #64, both who mention margarine and other substitutions.
We’re having a very smittenkitchen christmas around here! I just took the first batch (chopped pecans) out of the oven and am waiting on the cocoa version (some with pecans sprinkled overtop, some with fleur de sel). I’m excited! Thanks for this wonderful site!
I made this for Christmas eve & day. They were a huge hit, I did them with fresh grated ginger, mandarine zest & cinnamon, a great combo !
If I wanted to make this recipe using lavendar, do you know the amount of lavendar that I would need for one batch? And would I use lavendar buds or lavendar oil?
Thanks to anyone who will respond.
This is simply mouth watering.Will try it out.
Definitely should have chopped up my regular sized chocolate chips! Cold chunks of chocolate chips are not easy to cut!
Will try orange with mini chocolate chips next time!
PS. Deb, you’re awesome and lovely :)
These are SO GOOD. I made them for friends at Christmastime (er, last year) and then I ate many myself, and I usually am one for chewy cookies. They were that good. Also I left one of the logs in the fridge for way too long and then was worried it’d be a mess when I baked it but was still delicious.
I am intrigued by the browned butter version, but not quite sure how to get to that… do I brown the butter and then cool it? It’s just not coming to me this rainy morning. Might need coffee… Thanks in advance!
I love this recipe! Since the recipe is easy to divide in half, my favorite thing to do is mix up halves in separate bowls, flavor/dye them differently, then swirl them together before rolling up and chilling (and slicing and baking). Here’s a pic of my orange (with orange zest) & purple cookies: http://imgur.com/a/KPdGY
Have been scouring the Intenet for three weeks looking for a lemon poppyseed cookie recipe. I checked here first but my search terms didn’t yield this for some reason. Of course it was here somewhere. Holiday baking saved.
This is the answer! I have been making Ming Tsai’s shortbread recipe for years. It makes a ton, so I usually split in up and flavor it a couple different ways as you do here. It’s also great to keep in the freezer and just slice off a few to bake when people come over for dinner. My new obsession my Breville smart mini toaster oven. I’m in a small apartykitchen in SF, so space is at a premium. Deb, it’s your second oven. I’m in love! I feel like the little girl, who never got her easy bake oven when she was small. Cookies bake in about 8 minutes. It’s fast! Just saying, if you don’t already have one…….going to try your recipe this year for these cookies. Thank you for all the great recipes, I can always count on you!
I meant to say, I’m in a tiny apartment kitchen in SF! Yes, it’s often a party kitchen too, but that’s another story!
It IS my second oven! How did you know? Bought one a month ago, haven’t used it that much yet because I don’t have the wiring to have it out more but it was a big help when we had a lot of people over. I got the big one, though. I liked the idea of being able to put a 12-inch pan in it.
For a really unique twist, add 1 tsp coarsely ground pepper, in addition to the tsp. of vanilla flavoring. The pepper makes the cookies look and taste exotic and sometimes leave a bit of welcomed heat on the tongue.
Love ALL of your recipes, Deb. I’ve done the Farro and mini tomato recipe about once a month, always wanting it 2-3 times a week.
Many thanks for your consistent hard work!
Can you please give exact measurements? We don’t know how much sugar equals 2/3 cup. Or perhaps you should mention how many grams is a cup.
Thanks
1 cup of powdered sugar is 120 grams. I just added the remaining weights.
Great recipe, will try this, thank you!
Could these be adapted to use a 1:1 replacement gf flour like bobs red mill or namaste?
I used cranberry and orange zest with almond extract for one batch and chocolate with chopped pecans for another and holy moly!! Baking isn’t really my thing but these turned out fantastic! Thanks for another fabulous recipe!
This is similar to my shortbread recipe, but without the yolks.
I mix in the flour carefully with a metal spoon.
I use a little less sugar, and usually soft brown sugar.
Sometimes I use half a cup of whole meal flour and one and a half of regular flour.
My favorite flavor is a generous teaspoon or two of freshly roasted and ground cardamom!
Sometimes if I don’t feel like making the rolls of dough I just press into a square cake tin and bake, then cut into pieces in the tin.
I’ve just made a batch with the cocoa and some roasted and chopped hazelnuts, and then drizzled melted dark chocolate over them. They’re lovely nice and cold from the refrigerator.
I think ginger would be good, but haven’t tried that yet!
I just made these–orange cardamom!–and they are as easy and delicious as everyone says. Just a quick note in response to some commenters who found the dough tricky to roll into a log. I found the dough a bit easier to work with when divided into quarters. Especially if you’re really attempting to get the roll only about an inch or so in diameter, working with a smaller amount keeps it from getting too long. Since the dough is a bit craggy/wet before it chills, I found it easier to shape it into more of a long thin rectangle first, wrapped that in plastic, and then rolled the edges smooth once it was wrapped. Worked like a charm!
I made the cranberry/orange zest version and was initially quite disappointed as I found them to be horribly dry and crumbly. Well, imagine my surprise when I tasted one a couple of days later – planning to dump the whole lot from the tupperware container – they had softened and had become delicious. We ate them over the next several days and loved them! Your suggestion to finely chop the cranberries was excellent – I tossed them in a bit of flour which made the chopping easier. I was going to pitch the recipe, but will definitely make again. Thank you and Happy New Year! I love your website.
I made this recipe. Half with orange zest and cranberries, half with lemon zest and poppy seeds (mixed in). The orange/cranberry were very good. The lemon/poppy were bitter. I halved the add-ins. Lemon poppy either needs more sugar or less poppy? Or more lemon? Not sure…
I made a large batch of these for a cookie swap – I flavoured with vanilla, mandarin orange peel and spices (cinnamon, cloves, allspice), and they were a big hit, but really easy on a time crunch. I think in future years, I might bake off a few (for eating while we swap) but then give everyone a little tube of their own to bake – they smelled so delightful when baking!
If you freeze the rolls, should you thaw them before slicing and baking? Should you bake them longer?
Made a maple extract and coffee flour version for a sort of maple latte flavor. The dough is so delicious I may not bake it at all!
I had visions of making these with something fancy. Maybe sesame seeds and then half dipped in chocolate. Then the six -year old got involved and they became vanilla with blue and red swirl. ;-) But I was impressed that the dough stood up to him using a rolling pin to “Hulk out.” Definitely easy and lid friendly if you can convince them to be patient through the freezer parts.
I made this with almond extract and fennel seed!! SO GOOD. I rolled it in turbinado sugar before baking and slicing– added a great crunch.
Hi! I made these and put minced fresh rosemary and orange zest in the dough, then rolled the logs in sanding sugar – so amazing!
Thank you for posting this. My great-grandmother used to make a maple-walnut version of this cookie every Xmas when I was a kid, and the recipe died with my grandmother twenty years ago. I’ve been looking for a recipe but I didn’t know exactly what to look for, as soon as I saw “slice and bake” I knew this was in the neighborhood.
Great memories of ice box cookies from my youth, can’t wait to try them.
I made these and they are delicious! Almost like shortbread, but I added orange and lemon zest, nutmeg, cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon. I rolled them in turbonado sugar before baking and they smelled SO GOOD. Nice and simple and perfect with coffee and tea.
I’m attempting lemon poppyseed but rolled flat in a ziplock (similar to the espresso shortbread). Hopefully it works!
These never fail me! Trying a new flavor this year, lemon zest and coconut flakes. They’re my to go Christmas present for eeeverybody, paired this year with a small bottle of “Blasleys”, a pun on words between my surname and homemade Baileys-style Irish cream, as per your recipe!!! Love the Smitten Kitchen!!!
These were a hit at 2019 Christmas! I mixed in about a tablespoon of cardamom (our family is nuts about it) and rolled in large green sanding sugar, for that festive touch :) They were (and still are- they’ve been in a cookie tin, today is 1/10/2020!) amazing. So buttery, light, and perfect. I’ve made other slice and bake recipes where when sliced the cookies break apart, not these! Thanks Deb!!
Simple, Sweet and mouth Watering. Keep it up the good work
My mother-in-law has requested alfajores for her 80th birthday and so I’m baking these cookies plain and sandwiching them with your awesome dulce de leche.
Hello. Is there a way to replace the zest of oranges, limes and lemons – maybe with extracts – to get the same flavour? I don’t have easy access to fresh fruit at the moment but so eager to make these.
Yes, you could use a citrus oil from a bottle. However, it doesn’t need to be citrus-flavored at all. There are so many other flavors you could use here.
This is such a great recipe but it did not yield 50 cookies when cut the size they are in the picture. I ended up not having enough :( But I loved the versatility! (1/4 cup poppy seeds was also way way too much!) Hoping I didn’t do something wrong… I double checked everything.
What is the longest you can keep unbaked dough in the freezer?
They look delicious. I’ll be trying the cranberry-orange and lemon-poppy seed versions. As for the zest in each recipe would about 2 tsp be right?
This dough turned out incredibly crumbly and hard to work with for me. I won’t make it again, unfortunately.
I made this as the orange cranberry option. It turned out delicious! I did about 1/8 tsp of salt and next time I’d bump that up a bit; instead I sprinkled a bit of sea salt on top and it turned out good. These won’t last more than a couple days in our house!
You linked me over here from your checkerboard cookie recipe post, and I just wanted to say thank you! I love icebox cookies!
I love so many of you recipes. But, Im not sure if I made these incorrectly, but honestly I was not a fan of Dori’s recipe. I found the texture not to be appealing. My husband, “my loyal cookie taster” described them as “tasting like compressed flour and as soon as you bit into them they turned to dust.” I brought them to work, and they definitely did not move as quickly like my other baked goods. I most felt like they needed more butter. Or maybe it was the powdered sugar. I will say i rarely find recipes with powder sugar tasty.
Will the result be disappointing if I try to mix by hand? I am without stand/hand mixer!
Hi Deb! Quick question- is the flour weight measurement correct? 280 grams seems like quite a bit more than 2 cups. I’ve switched to weighing ingredients when weights are listed, as it’s much more precise. But now I’m not sure whether to weigh or scoop into a cup for this recipe! Thanks for all that you do!
Anyone subbed granulated sugar for the powdered sugar? I made the cookies with cranberry, orange zest and added walnuts. Quite nice. Now I have plans for other variations I want to try, including lime zest and pistachios. However, I got a chalky taste from the cookies. Commenters on Dorie Greenspan’s “Bake and Tell” site suggested that it is the cornstarch in the powdered sugar. I’m going to try subbing granulated but also thought that I’d ask folks here if they’d had any issues with this.
I live in epic fail land with slice and bake cookies. No matter the recipe nor the knife it’s crumble city. Recently tried your date cookies, thought the method with the cold butter to start might be a game changer. It wasn’t for me. Is there a class for these kinds of cookies?
Butter is firm when it’s cold, so it can seem crumbly when cut. The answer is always to squeeze as you’re slicing, and use a very sharp or thin serrated knife. Try to catch the cookie slice before it falls over. If it does break, simply squeeze it back together on the baking sheet; it will bake up just fine.