Refrigerator Cookies are cookies baked from cookie dough which has been chilled first, then simply sliced and baked.
They are less messy to make than having to roll the cookies out out on floured surfaces, and usually come out of the oven with relatively satisfying uniform sizes and shapes.
There are hundreds and hundreds of recipes.
The dough is often shaped first into a log or block. This makes it easy to make slices of the dough, which are then transferred to cookie sheets ready for baking.
The dough is often chilled for 12 hours or more. It can also be frozen. If frozen, it generally doesn’t need thawing first before slicing and baking, but you may need a sturdy knife to cut through frozen dough. Allow cookies from dough that is frozen to cook a minute or two longer in the oven.
Pillsbury has been selling ready-made Refrigerator Cookie dough in grocery store chiller cabinets for decades.
Cooking Tips
To make your logs of Refrigerator Cookie dough perfectly round:
- Cut open an empty cardboard roll from paper towel (aka kitchen paper in the UK) by cutting along the length of one side;
- Line it with waxed or greaseproof paper;
- Pack dough into the lined tube, close the tube, securing it in a couple spots with elastic bands or tape;
- Refrigerate;
- Take apart packaging to slice and bake.