charlys-room: Cherry Slice Icebox Cookies

I clearly remember my mom making 'icebox' cookies when I was a little girl. They are a marvel to have in the fridge at Christmas time....just take out and slice and bake! Mixing up the easy dough before is key, but this recipe is very easy to make up as it only take a few minutes. And they taste wonderfully of a brown sugar dough with the sweet taste of cherries.

These types of 'icebox cookie' recipes have been around for years...and were the original convenience type cookies. Here is an old recipe found on the Purity Flour spiral bound cookbook, and with any luck, you likely have many of the ingredients already.

Cherry Slice Icebox Cookies

{makes 4 dozen cookies}

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 cups lightly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flours

1 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup diced glazed cherries

Directions:

1. Using mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar & vanilla.

2. Beat in 2 eggs and beat until light and fluffy.

3. Stir in dry ingredients and mix. Add in cherries.

4. Turn out soft dough onto counter. Divide in half.

5. Shape each dough ball into a log about 2 inches thick.

6. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

When ready to bake, take log from fridge. Remove saran wrap and roll in sugar if desired. Slice into cookies about 1/4 inch think. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 oven for 4-6 minutes...watching carefully not to burn.

This is an excellent basic recipe to keep on hand in the fridge. You could also add nuts if you desire.

They make an excellent cookie to serve warm to kids with glasses of milk or hot chocolate after playing outside in the snow.

They also make a wonderful cookie to fill a tin for a Christmas gift for someone special or to take into the office. And what an excellent gift this would make for a busy mom...just give her the rolls of uncooked dough so they could be baked as needed.