Meet your forever recipe for icebox slice & bake cookies: a versatile, buttery base cookie dough ready for endless flavor adaptations. Whether you’re craving mint chocolate, raspberry, cookies & cream, maple pecan, or a buttery sugar cookie dipped in caramel and chocolate, this one dough has you covered.
Choose your own flavor adventure with this cookie recipe! Think of this as your mix-and-match playground for holiday cookie trays, gifting, or easy make-ahead baking.
Why You’ll Love Them
- Simple, basic ingredients
- Easy-to-follow 1-bowl recipe
- Buttery shortbread texture
- Soft and thick in the centers, crispy around the edges
- A great make-ahead cookie recipe
- No rolling individual dough balls—just slice into rounds
- Infinitely adaptable!
I love the slice-and-bake cookie method and you can find more variations on my website, including coconut-y Santa’s whiskers cookies, colorful sprinkle slice-and-bakes, cranberry orange icebox cookies, brown sugar shortbread cookies, and toasted hazelnut slice-and-bake cookies.
They Are Also Known as Icebox Cookies
They’re sometimes called “icebox cookies” for a reason: chilling the cookie dough logs is essential. Like pinwheel cookies (another slice-and-bake cookie), the cookie dough is very buttery and, without time in the refrigerator, will bake into greasy puddles.
Think of the chill time as built-in convenience rather than delayed gratification—perfect for planning ahead.
The cookie dough logs can hang out in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or you can freeze them for even longer. Simply thaw in the refrigerator for an hour or two before slicing and baking. Having some cookie dough in the freezer is such a time-saver during the busy holiday season!
6 Ingredients for the Base Cookie Dough
All very basic baking staples:
- Butter: Make sure it’s proper room-temperature butter to start.
- Sugar: We’re sweetening these cookies with both brown and white granulated sugar.
- Egg: 1 egg serves to bind all the ingredients together.
- Vanilla: Key for flavor.
- Flour: The base of our cookies.
- Salt: To balance the sweet.
And, as an optional coating on the cookies, use coarse sugar such as sparkling sugar sprinkles or something like Sugar in the Raw. It provides a little extra sparkle and crunch.
Let Me Show You the Process
This is all very easy. Make the cookie dough all in 1 bowl, and then divide it in half. It’s quite creamy, so have a little extra flour on hand. If your dough seems too sticky to roll, beat in another 1–2 Tbsp of flour.
Shape each portion into a log (just roll it) that’s about 8 inches long, and then wrap up tightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours… but preferably longer. Overnight is great, or they can chill in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for even longer.
After that, roll the dough logs in the coarse sugar. Slice each of the dough logs into 12 discs. They’re about 8 inches long, so each cookie will be a little thicker than 1/2 inch.
Arrange on your lined baking sheets and bake.
5 Slice and Bake Cookie Flavors
Each flavor variation below, and in the recipe Notes, lists the add-ins and toppings you need for the entire batch of dough (both logs). If you’d like to make more than one flavor, prepare a second batch of the base dough and customize each batch separately.
- Chocolate Caramel Toffee: Make the base cookie dough; no add-ins! After the cookies cool, dip them in thickened salted caramel, then melted semi-sweet chocolate, and garnish with toffee bits.
- Raspberry White Chocolate: To the base dough, you’ll add ground freeze-dried raspberries (after sifting out the seeds). After the cookies cool, drizzle them with melted white chocolate.
- Cookies & Cream: To the base dough, you’ll add crushed Oreo cookies. After the cookies cool, drizzle them with melted white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate, and garnish with more crushed Oreos.
- Mint Chocolate Chip: To the base dough, you’ll add peppermint extract, finely chopped dark chocolate, and a drop of green gel food coloring (if desired). After the cookies cool, dip them in melted dark or semi-sweet chocolate.
- Maple Pecan: Use dark brown sugar in the dough (instead of light). Then add maple extract, cinnamon, and finely chopped pecans. Feel free to drizzle the cooled cookies with the maple icing we use on these maple brown sugar cookies!
Can I make more than 1 flavor from 1 batch of dough? Yes! Divide the dough in half in step 2 below and add half the flavor add-ins to each portion. Do the same with any toppings.
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page.
Icebox Slice & Bake Cookies (5 Flavors)
- Prep Time: 5 hours (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy slice-and-bake icebox cookies start with 1 versatile base dough that you can turn into 5 delicious flavors: chocolate caramel toffee, raspberry white chocolate, cookies & cream, mint chocolate chip, and maple pecan. The dough mixes up in one bowl, chills into neat logs, and bakes into buttery cookies with soft centers and crisp edges. Perfect for gifting, holidays, or make-ahead baking!
Ingredients
Dough
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (267g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Add-Ins & Toppings
- Add-ins & toppings (see Notes for full flavor measurements)
Optional
- coarse sugar for rolling, such as this sparkling sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until combined and creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Beat in the egg and vanilla extract on high speed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed, and continue to beat until fully combined. Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed until combined.
- Finally, beat in the chosen flavor add-ins (see Notes) on low speed until just combined. Avoid overmixing—blend only until the mix-ins are evenly distributed. The cookie dough will be thick and slightly sticky. If it seems too sticky to roll into logs, beat in 1–2 Tbsp more flour.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and, with floured hands, divide or cut in half. Roll/shape each half into an 8-inch log, about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. The measurements don’t have to be exact. Tightly wrap the dough logs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 5 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Optional rolling in sugar: Pour enough coarse sugar on an 8-inch or larger plate to cover it. Roll the logs in the sugar. You may need to really press the dough logs down into the sugar if it’s not really sticking. (I find coating the dough logs in sugar after chilling much easier, as the dough is too sticky to neatly roll in sugar right after mixing.)
- Slice each dough log into 12 equally thick cookies and arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 13–15 minutes or until very lightly brown around the edges (they won’t brown much). Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Dip or drizzle with melted chocolate and add toppings, if desired. See Flavors in the recipe Notes below.
- Cookies will stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make-Ahead Instructions: Baked cookies, with or without melted chocolate or caramel topping, freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving. You can make the cookie dough logs, wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (step 3). Cookie dough logs freeze well too, up to 3 months. Allow the wrapped logs to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 4.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Coarse Sugar | Cooling Rack
- (Flavor 1) Chocolate Caramel Toffee: For this variation, follow step 2 exactly as written with no add-ins. As the cookies bake, prepare one batch of salted caramel sauce and let it thicken for about 1 hour, until it’s no longer liquid. In step 8, dip each cooled cookie halfway into the caramel, allow the excess to drip off, and place the cookies on a lined tray. Refrigerate or freeze for 10–15 minutes so the caramel sets. Melt 4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, dip the caramel-coated half into the chocolate, and finish with flaky sea salt or toffee bits (such as Heath Bits O’ Brickle).
- (Flavor 2) Raspberry White Chocolate: Using a food processor, grind 1 cup (25g) freeze-dried raspberries. Sift out and discard the seeds. You should have about 14g of raspberry powder left after sifting out the seeds. In step 2, beat the ground raspberry powder into the dough. In step 8, melt 4 ounces of white chocolate, and drizzle over the cooled cookies.
- (Flavor 3) Cookies & Cream: In step 2, beat 6 crushed Oreos (70g) into the dough. In step 8, melt 2 ounces of white chocolate and 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate (separately), and drizzle over the cooled cookies. Crush 2 more Oreo cookies and sprinkle over the chocolate while it’s still wet.
- (Flavor 4) Mint Chocolate Chip: In step 2, beat 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract, 4 ounces (113g) finely chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, and 1 drop green gel food coloring such as Americolor Leaf Green (optional), into the dough. In step 8, melt 4 ounces of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate. Dip each cookie into chocolate.
- (Flavor 5) Maple Pecan: In step 1, use dark brown sugar instead of light brown. In step 2, beat 1 teaspoon maple extract, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1 cup (100g) finely chopped pecans into the dough.
- How to Melt Chocolate / Best Chocolate for Topping: Finely chop baking chocolate bars (typically 4 ounces/113g each). I prefer Ghirardelli or Baker’s. Place in a heat-proof bowl or glass measuring cup. Microwave in 20-second increments, stirring after each, until smooth. Or use a double boiler.
- Can I Make More Than 1 Flavor With 1 Batch of Dough? Yes! Divide the dough in half in step 2 and add half the flavor add-ins to each portion. Do the same in step 8 with any toppings.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Will this work with cookie stamps?
Hi D, we haven’t tested it so we can’t be sure. Let us know if you try it!
Great tasting and easy bake. I used a different flour to make these gluten free and the resultant cookies were excellent with a great texture.
What a fun recipe! Easy to make and so many options for flavours!
Absolutely delicious! I made the raspberry white chocolate version and the maple pecan flavor (used the leftover white chocolate fizzle from the raspberry ones- definitely recommend).
Yummy! Perfect with a tea or coffee for anticipated December visitors.
So I made the blondies and 4 of the 5 cookies. All were delicious. What a great basic icebox cookie recipe
It was great to have these variations on a basic slice and bake. I made the raspberry and subbed dark chocolate drizzle for the white. They are addictive! My only issues were that the cookie slice size was not specific and the size of the roll seemed off. I could not get a 2.5 inch diameter with an 8 inch roll. So I went with 1.5 inch diameter and sliced them a little more than a quarter inch thick. Luckily, I’ve made other slice and bake cookies so I wasn’t too lost on how to proceed.
So easy and delicious even in their own! I dipped mine in salted and chocolate.
Love your recipes
These are delicious! I made the caramel and chocolate version with one log and white chocolate macadamia with the other! I used gluten free flour (King Arthur) and they were perfect
I made this comment but didn’t include my full name, and I just wanted to make sure it counted as the extra entry. Thanks!
This recipe is so versatile and easy to make! The cookies are delicious and the dough can be made into several varieties which is always a giant plus!!
Very easy recipe with Sally’s instructions on how to make different varieties of this cookie you can’t go wrong! These cookies are a must for your Christmas cookie trays!
To get two 8 inch rolls my diameter is only about 1.5 inch. I’m thinking her directions have a typo and she meant 1.5, not 2.5.
Hi Carolann, it should be 1.5-2 inches. Thank you for catching that.
My batch was around 1.5 inches wide but then I ended up just flattening out the disks and everything worked out
Love how low maintenance this versatile cookie recipe is. I did the maple pecan flavour with a chocolate drizzle on top and my kids inhaled them!
I split the batch and made mint chocolate chip and maple pecan. Followed recipe as is and they are both delicious!! Cannot wait for tomorrow!!
I did exactly the same (but I did double and split to flavour)! Crazy!
Hi! This are beautiful. Any way to make these gluten free?
Hi Sarah, we have not tested this recipe with gluten free flour but would love to hear how it goes if you give it a try!
Another reader said she used King Arthur’s gluten free flour with good results. See the earlier comments.
Hi Sally!
Do you have any recommendations to make a pistachio version? I love the green color for the holidays, but I’m not a fan of mint chocolate. Thanks for your help!
Here’s our Pistachio and Chocolate Chunk Slice and Bake Cookies recipe!
I have just made these as orange and dark chocolate cookies. I have to say they are delicious. Great recipe that is really easy and very versatile. Thanks Sally.
Do I omit the vanilla extract if I’m using the maple extract? I’m thinking yes but wanted to be sure. Thanks!
Still add the vanilla, Toni!
could i use real maple syrup instead of maple extract?
Hi Madison! Maple syrup won’t have enough flavor if added to the cookie dough, but you could absolutely drizzle the cooled cookies with the maple icing (made with maple syrup) we use on these maple brown sugar cookies!
Can these be rolled and cut after chilling? If so, what thickness do you recommend?
Hi Chris, I don’t recommend using cookie cutters for this dough. (Is that what you meant?) It’s too soft and sticky. Instead, try my soft sugar cookies or these chocolate sugar cookies. I also have these recipes for lemon shortbread cookies and pecan sugar cookies, which are also cut-outs.
Hi I’m allergic to eggs can I substitute something for the egg?
Hi Liz, we haven’t tested any egg substitutes here, but you could try an egg replacer (like Bob’s Red Mill) or a flax egg here. We would love to hear how it goes!
Peppermint should have red food coloring spearmint would have green
That’s not a rule. Mint chocolate chip ice cream is not spearmint and it’s green.
These look great! I’m hoping to experiment with smaller cookies to make the most out of each recipe. (Our bookstore hands out about 200 bags of cookies to customers on Christmas Eve every year, we each make a few different styles of cookies to hand out). Thanks for the lead time for some experimenting!
Hi Sally! For the mint/chocolate version, if I wanted to use leftover chopped up Andes mint candies instead of regular chocolate in the dough, would you recommend still adding the peppermint extract? Or would that be overkill? Thank you!
Hi Veronica! That’s completely up to you; if I were using chopped Andes mints, I would use 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract. For less mint flavor, go down to 1/4 teaspoon. But I wouldn’t skip it completely!
I have freeze dried cherries. Do you think they will be a good substitute for the freeze dried raspberries? I know cherry and white chocolate are a good combo.
Hi Amy, absolutely! As long as they are freeze dried cherries and not just dried cherries (which are gummy), that will work just fine.
Am I missing the addition of brown sugar in the instructions? Should I assume it is creamed with the butter and granulated sugar?
Hi Tina, thanks for catching that! Correct, it will be creamed with the butter and granulated sugar. We’ve updated the directions to reflect this. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
I’m excited to try these! Do you have a trick to keep your cookies round when slicing them? Even if I chill them well, mine seems to flatten on one size & never looks like a nice circle
Hi Anne! Great question. Slice-and-bake dough loves to settle on one side as it chills, so it’s totally normal to end up with a flat edge. You can try one of two simple fixes: after slicing, gently roll each cookie on its edge like a little wheel to round it back out, or, if the log looks uneven after chilling, give it a quick roll on the counter before coating it in sugar and slicing. Either method should help keep your cookies nice and round. Enjoy!
An easy way to make sure that your cookie is round is to lay it flat and then take a glass a little bigger than the cookie and place it opening down over the cookie and just kind of swirl it around and it will perfectly round out the dough.
Hi Sally! For the raspberry white chocolate alternative, do you measure the freeze dried strawberries before or after you grind them? Thanks!
Hi Lily, you will grind 1 cup (25g) of the freeze-dried raspberries into a powder and then sift out the seeds.
Any idea what the weight is after you sift out the seeds? I don’t have a food processor but can easily get freeze-dried raspberry powder.
Hi Kari, yes, it is 14g.