Icebox Slice & Bake Cookies (5 Flavors)
Prep Time: 5 hours (includes chilling)
Cook Time: 14 minutes
Total Time: 5 hours, 30 minutes
Yield: 24 cookies
Ingredients:
Dough:
3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (267g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Add-Ins & Toppings:
Add-ins & toppings (see Notes for full flavor measurements)
Optional:
coarse sugar for rolling, such as this sparkling sugar
Directions:
In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until combined and creamy, about 3 minutes.
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract on high speed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed, and continue to beat until fully combined. Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed until combined.
Finally, beat in the chosen flavor add-ins (see Notes) on low speed until just combined. Avoid overmixing—blend only until the mix-ins are evenly distributed. The cookie dough will be thick and slightly sticky. If it seems too sticky to roll into logs, beat in 1–2 Tbsp more flour.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and, with floured hands, divide or cut in half. Roll/shape each half into an 8-inch log, about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter.
The measurements don’t have to be exact. Tightly wrap the dough logs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 5 days.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
Optional rolling in sugar: Pour enough coarse sugar on an 8-inch or larger plate to cover it. Roll the logs in the sugar. You may need to really press the dough logs down into the sugar if it’s not really sticking. (I find coating the dough logs in sugar after chilling much easier, as the dough is too sticky to neatly roll in sugar right after mixing.)
Slice each dough log into 12 equally thick cookies and arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies for 13–15 minutes or until very lightly brown around the edges (they won’t brown much). Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Dip or drizzle with melted chocolate and add toppings, if desired. See Flavors in the recipe Notes below.
Cookies will stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes:
Make-Ahead Instructions: Baked cookies, with or without melted chocolate or caramel topping, freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving. You can make the cookie dough logs, wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (step 3). Cookie dough logs freeze well too, up to 3 months. Allow the wrapped logs to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 4.
5 Slice and Bake Cookie Flavors:
Each flavor variation below, and in the recipe Notes, lists the add-ins and toppings you need for the entire batch of dough (both logs). If you’d like to make more than one flavor, prepare a second batch of the base dough and customize each batch separately.
Chocolate Caramel Toffee: Make the base cookie dough; no add-ins! After the cookies cool, dip them in thickened salted caramel, then melted semi-sweet chocolate, and garnish with toffee bits.
Raspberry White Chocolate: To the base dough, you’ll add ground freeze-dried raspberries (after sifting out the seeds). After the cookies cool, drizzle them with melted white chocolate.
Cookies & Cream: To the base dough, you’ll add crushed Oreo cookies. After the cookies cool, drizzle them with melted white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate, and garnish with more crushed Oreos.
Mint Chocolate Chip: To the base dough, you’ll add peppermint extract, finely chopped dark chocolate, and a drop of green gel food coloring (if desired). After the cookies cool, dip them in melted dark or semi-sweet chocolate.
Maple Pecan: Use dark brown sugar in the dough (instead of light). Then add maple extract, cinnamon, and finely chopped pecans. Feel free to drizzle the cooled cookies with the maple icing we use on these maple brown sugar cookies!
Can I make more than 1 flavor from 1 batch of dough? Yes! Divide the dough in half in step 2 below and add half the flavor add-ins to each portion. Do the same with any toppings.
Notes:
Recipe courtesy of Sally’s Baking Addiction.com
