"SLICE & BAKE COOKIES AT THE READY"

Story By:  Carole Walter

With a stash of dough in the freezer, you can bake a batch of delicious holiday cookies at a moment's notice.

It's holiday time, you're in a hurry... and the cookie jar is empty.  But wait!  You've got a log of lemon-lime butter wafer dough in the refrigerator, already made.  All you need to do is slice and Bake.  Slice-and-bake cookies... what I call icebox or refrigerator cookies growing up... are the quickest way to fill the jar and to make fabulous cookies for sharing with friends and family.

Slice-and-bake cookies are delicious, eye-catching, and versatile.  The recipes produce large yields, making them a perfect choice for cookie exchanges and gift giving.  And best of all, slice-and-bake cookies are nothing if not do-ahead and convenient.  After the dough is mixed and shaped into logs, it may be either refrigerated or frozen.  You can make your dough well before the holiday rush sets in.  Then, when you're ready to bake, simply remove the logs from the freezer and set them in the refrigerator to thaw (for up to three days).  Slice the dough into rounds, bake them and viola!  You'll have batches of appealing irresistible cookies.  Just slice off as many cookies as you think you'll need; any dough you don't uses can be re-frozen.

These nifty cookies aren't difficult to make, but a few pointers will ensure that your cookies come our beautifully:

1.  Start with butter that is softened at room temperature but still firm.  Starting with butter that's too soft will result in dough that is too soft, and thus trickier to shape into logs.  If you're using a stand mixer, the butter should be soft enough that pressing with your fingertips will leave a slight impression.  If you're using a hand-held mixer or mixing by hand, the butter should be just a little softer, so that pressing with your fingertips leaves a deep impression.

2.  Mix just until the ingredients are blended.  With these dough's, less mixing is definitely better than more, or you'll end up with cookies that are less than tender.

3.  Use a few tricks and tips for shaping dough in to perfect logs.  The cookies will be delicious no matter how smoothly you shape them, but if you follow some pointers, your cookies will be easier to shape and a little more uniform when baked.

For the rest of Carole's tips and tricks on slice an bake cookies, and for recipes on the following all new cookies, pick up your copy of "Fine Cooking Holiday Baking" 2004 today.

1. Brown Sugar Spice Cookies

2. Pinwheel Cookies

3. Lemon-Lime Butter Wafers

4. Oatmeal-Cranberry Cookies

5.Glazed Maple-Pecan Cookies

   Copyright 2008

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