Old-Fashioned Icebox Cookies

During the holiday baking season, I’m especially grateful that I learned so many of my mom’s thrifty, time-saving kitchen secrets. Today, I made one of her specialties: Aunt Jake’s Icebox Spice Cookies. Old-fashioned cookies like these and the molasses cookies that are a tradition in Bill’s family fit our budget, and it’s hard to beat the taste.

With icebox cookies you make the dough, roll it into logs, then chill or freeze it until you’re ready to bake. I baked enough of this batch for the big cookie exchange tomorrow. There’s still enough dough in the freezer to bake three dozen more cookies. So in the unlikely event that we run out of cookies during the holidays, I can produce more in no time. Or I can just bake some so the house smells good when company arrives. If they’re looking for the cookie tray, they’re not noticing the dust bunnies, right?

Aunt Jake’s Icebox Spice Cookies
(makes 8 dozen)
1 pound butter, softened
1-1/2 cups white sugar
2 cups dark brown sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs
7 cups flour
1tsp. baking soda
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cream the butter and sugars until well mixed. Add cinnamon, eggs, flour, soda and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

Sprinkle a sheet of waxed paper with powdered sugar. Grab a handful of dough, pat it into a ball, and roll the ball with your hands on the powdered sugar to form a log a little more than an inch in diameter. Wrap the roll in the waxed paper. Repeat to form more logs from the remaining dough.

Chill the logs in the fridge or store in the freezer until time to bake. To bake, preheat the oven to 375. With a sharp knife, cut a log into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 7-10 minutes if using chilled dough, 9-10 minutes for frozen dough.