Friday, May 23, 2014

Grandma's Ice-Box Cookies

My Grandma loved to bake.  She loved people with her food.  Maybe that's where I get it from.  This recipe intrigued me as a child because of the name "ice-box cookies" and the rectangular shape she often made them.

Yield approximately 12 dozen small cookies.  (small cookies means you can eat a lot more)
Preparation time:  13 to 18 minutes
Freezing time:  6 hours or overnight
Baking time:  15 minutes
These are one of our family's FAVORITE cookies!

1 cup (2 cubes) butter or margarine
1 cup shortening
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
5 cups flour (high-altitude add 1/4 cup flour plus 3 Tablespoons more flour)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1.  Cream butter or margarine with shortening.  Add eggs and sugars and cream again.
2.  Sift dry ingredients together; stir into sugar mixture.  Stir in nuts.  (really it's better with nuts!)
3.  Pour into a wax paper lined 9-by-13-inch pan.  Cover with wax paper.  Flatten into shape.
4.  Place in freezer 6 hours or overnight.
5.  Slice frozen cookie dough into 4 strips and wrap each individually in waxed paper.  Return to freezer until ready for use.
6.  When ready to bake, preheat oven to 300 degrees (high-altitude 325 degrees).  Remove only 1 strip at a time.  Slice about 3/16-inch thick for each cookie, placing about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
7.  Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Remove immediately from cookie sheets while hot or cookies will break.

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