Refrigerator Cookies

 

 

An American seeking a gooey, freshly baked chocolate chip cookie will often satisfy that craving with a tube of refrigerated cookie dough, ready and waiting at the nearest supermarket. These convenient cookies are descended from a popular trend in the early part of the 20th century. Home cooks had access to ice boxes to keep household food cold in the late 19th century, but affordable electric refrigerators came on the market in the 1920s.


In a survey of 180 cookbooks from 1900-1930 I found cookie recipes for ice box or refrigerator cookies beginning in 1920. These early recipes, like this one for “Set at Night” cookies don’t specify using an ice box, but simply state to form the dough into loaf, “set in a cook place over night”, and slice and bake the next day.

"Set at Night" Cookies
1 c . melted Butter
1 tsp . Soda
1/2 melted Lard
1 tsp . B. P.  [baking powder
2 c . white Sugar
3 1/2 c . Flour
3 Eggs well beaten
Nuts and Raisins
1 tbsp . Cinnamon
Use more flour if necessary to make into loaves. Set in a cool place over night. Slice very thin and bake in the morning. 

My family enjoyed two refrigerator cookie recipes. The Black Walnut cookies probably originated in the 1930s or 1940s and come from my great-grandmother. The Refrigerator Oatmeal Cookies were one of the first things we made in my junior high school Home Economics class in the 1960s. Both of these recipes call for vegetable shortening. If you substitute butter, be sure to leave room for the cookies to spread.  Although both of these recipes call for wrapping the cookies in waxed paper, these days I would use parchment paper. If you decide to freeze them, you'll need to wrap the cookie roll in a layer of aluminum foil.

Refrigerator Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup shortening
1 /2 cup flour
1 tsp soda
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats
1/2 cup nuts

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla and sifted dry ingredients, Add oatmeal and nuts. Shape into 2 rolls, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate. Slice 1/4 inch thick. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350.

Black Walnut Refrigerator Cookies
1 1/2 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
4 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup finely chopped black walnuts

Mix all ingredients. Shape into rolls, wrap in waxed paper and store in refrigerator or freezer. Cut into slices about 3/8 inch thick and bake on greased sheet at 375 degrees till lightly browned.