It’s midnight. You’re in bed. Your eyes are shut. But… your mind is awake, dreaming about chocolate cookies. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t ignore that yearning. So you finally get up and walk to the kitchen. You check the counter, the pantry, and the fridge. Alas, no cookies. You go back to bed, heartbroken, unable to scratch that itch. I know how awful it feels, and I’m here to help. With this easy recipe for chocolate icebox cookies, you’ll never have to go to sleep disappointed again.
Chocolate Icebox Cookies
Chocolate icebox cookies are soft, buttery, and wonderfully crisp around the edges. It’s a simple recipe that calls for basic pantry ingredients… so basic, you most likely have them on hand already. It’s also the best solution for a sudden cookie craving. You make the dough once, store it in the freezer, and bake whenever! The cookies go way back into the 1930s, predating the refrigerator and freezer. Back then, people used iceboxes – basically a box with ice – to preserve food. People would prepare the cookie dough, roll it into a log, and store it in an icebox. Hence the name! They then sliced the log into rounds and baked whenever desired.
Ingredients
All-purpose flour. To give your cookies structure.Cocoa powder. To give the cookies that rich, chocolatey goodness.Cinnamon. Just a touch of spice does wonders for the cookies’ flavor.Butter. For super-rich and buttery cookies. Use unsalted butter, so that you can control how much sodium goes into the cookies.
Also, make sure your butter is at room temperature so that it combines easily with the rest of the ingredients. Do not use melted butter, because that will cause the cookies to spread thinly as they bake.
Granulated sugar. Just regular granulated sugar will do!Egg. Just one is enough to make the cookies ultra-rich and tender.
Tips for Making Icebox Cookies
Measure the flour accurately. Don’t just scoop it with a measuring cup, or you’ll end up with more flour than needed. This will make your cookies dry and crumbly!
For best results, use a scale to measure the flour. Or use a spoon to transfer the flour into the measuring cup and level it with the back of a knife.
Want your cookies to be perfectly round? Place the dough inside the cardboard tubes of paper towel rolls.
Empty the rolls, cut a slit down the tubes, and store the dough inside. Wrap the tubes with foil so they don’t get wet in the fridge or freezer. This will prevent the dough from getting deformed, no matter how long you store it.
Do not over-mix the ingredients. Do so just until they are well-combined. Over-mixing will melt the butter too much, and your dough will become too soft and sticky. You won’t be able to form a cylinder from the batter if that’s the case!
If you’ve accidentally over-mixed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. Try to form the dough again.
Wrap the dough cylinder with a dry (and clean!) kitchen towel before refrigerating. This will prevent the dough from getting flattened as it chills.Chill the dough for at least two hours before baking. If you bake it too soon, chances are, the cookies will spread and flatten too much and become crispy.These chocolate icebox cookies are amazing as is, but you can also switch things up a little by adding chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or sprinkles.
How Long Do Chocolate Icebox Cookies Last?
Baked chocolate icebox cookies will last for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also store the pre-cooked cookie dough in the fridge for up to seven days. Be sure to wrap the dough completely in plastic wrap. Store the cookie dough in the freezer to extend its lifespan significantly. By significantly, I mean up to three months! That’s the beauty of icebox cookies. You prepare the cookie dough once and freeze it for eternity. Whenever a craving strikes, you can just take the dough out, slice, and bake! Here’s how: shape the cookie dough into a 2-inch-wide cylinder, wrap it in foil and wax paper, and freeze. To bake, defrost the dough at the counter, slice into rounds, and pop them in the oven. Click on a star to rate it!
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