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
These are so easy to make! I love all the different flavor combinations too! I will definitely be making them again!
These slice and bake cookies were easy to make and very tasty. After I mixed them I didn’t have time to bake them. I liked that I could leave it in the refrigerator for a couple of days for when I had more time. A++
A true 10/10 recipe, next year I’m doing my cookies boxes with only shortbread cookies and this will def be included in them. I only tried the cookies and cream one but can’t wait to try the other flavors.
This is the best a slice and bake recipe has turned out for me! I tried the mint chocolate chip variation and loved it. Thanks for the baking challenge!
Love the variety with these cookies! I chose to do the cookies and cream version as I already had Oreos. Delicious! Now melting white chocolate on the other hand was not a fun process for me for some reason.
Could you sub substitute Dulce de Leche for your salted caramel recipe? Would it be a totally different texture and not set up on the cookie or would it be a good alternative? Thanks!
Hi Hannah, Dulce de Leche will typically set/harden as it cools, so that should be fine. Just make sure you are using a recipe that will do so, and not a sauce that stays liquid. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
I made the brown sugar pecan cookies and dipped them in a brown sugar caramel. They are delicious, and I will make them again.
I baked the maple pecan and dipped them in a brown sugar caramel. They are delicious, and I will definitely make them again!
I used the alternative recipe for December. My whole family enjoyed the chocolate cranberry Blondies. We ate one batch right away and I made a second batch that was just as well received. I especially liked the addition of orange zest. Easy delicious recipe. Just what I need during the holidays.
Very easy and I love all the different variations! I made the raspberry and the pecan and I liked both of them. The color on the raspberry didn’t come out the most appetizing lol but they were tasty anyway. The only step I struggled with was rolling the logs in sugar- it didn’t seem to want to stay on but after letting the logs warm up for a bit it became easier. I would definitely revisit these to try the other flavors!
So fun and easy! I rolled one roll in green sprinkles and the other in red to make them festive for Christmas. The insides are so soft and delicious!
Made the raspberry white chocolate version of these and they were delicious – the flavor of the freeze dried raspberry really packs a punch. My only issue was with the consistency of the dough. Despite measuring my flour with a scale for accuracy, my dough was so dry and crumbly. I had a really difficult time mixing in the raspberry and rolling into logs and cutting, it just wanted to fall apart. Wondering if my scale is off, or if anyone else had similar issues…
Such an easy and versatile recipe to make. Definitely a crowd pleaser and will be making again
Easy and delicious recipe! I made the raspberry version but look forward to trying the other flavors too.
Love these! I preferred cutting the logs into 16 pieces, not 12, as twelve seemed to make them a bit thick. Adjusted cooking times accordingly. I had a little difficulty with the caramel sauce, it thickened nicely in the fridge, but oozed off the cookies once dipped. Still delicious though. The ultimate cookie is the raspberry one – a triumph! Great cookie recipe all round. Will definitely make these again.
I enjoyed making these cookies and my family loved the way they tasted. I made the raspberry, cookies and cream and chocolate caramel cookies. The only issue I had was finding freeze dried raspberries. I had to go to three different stores. Nonetheless, great recipe.
Loved this recipe! The brown sugar gave a good depth of flavor. We didn’t experiment with flavors, but we will next time!
I made the raspberry version I just wasn’t something that I liked.
The base dough recipe is easy to make. My favorite additions to make different flavored cookies are raspberries with white chocolate and the maple pecan. I made the caramel which was a tad on the salty side. I think I would have liked those more with less salt. It was ambitious to make all five flavors, which took me two days to complete, but I enjoyed learning about drizzling chocolate and making caramel by scratch. I am giving this recipe a 4 out of five. I see myself making the family’s favorite flavored icebox cookies in the future! Great with a cup of tea!
Nice to have the variety. We did the mint, they turned out tasty and festive. I skipped the dipped chocolate because we didn’t have it but used larger chocolate chunks.
I have never made carmel before! I made these for my work cookie bake off tomorrow so we will see how it goes but I am obsessed! SO yummy with the coarse salt of them!
These are quick to put together. I used the salted caramel and semi sweet chocolate. I rushed so they aren’t as pretty as they could be. Can’t wait to taste them!
I enjoyed making these cookies and my family loved the way they tasted. I made the raspberry, cookies and cream and chocolate caramel cookies. The only issue I had was finding freeze dried raspberries. I had to go to three different stores. Nonetheless, great recipe.
I made the mint chocolate ones. They taste just like peppermint bon-bon ice cream! I used chopped up chocolate chips because I rarely have chocolate bars. It worked great! I think I might add them to my holiday cookie plate in the future. So easy to slice and bake. And you can do lots of them on the pan since they don’t spread! I will be testing the raspberry white chocolate next.
Hi. I want to try this cookie dough. For the maple pecan cookies, am I still using vanilla extract and maple extract?
Thanks. Mary
Yes, use both!
Tried all varieties and everyone raved about them! I did use walnuts instead of pecans in the maple ones because it’s what I had and thought that was a tasty switch.
My favorites were the mint and raspberry ones. I also tried making my own toffee to top the chocolate caramel ones and loves it!
These were EXCELLENT! I used all purpose flour, but wonder if gluten free flour would work as well?
Thanks
Hi Pamela, we haven’t tested a gluten-free version of these cookies, but let us know if you try anything!
The raspberry flavor was so delicious! Perfect amount of flavoring. These were easy to make and really fun to try various flavors!
This was an easy dough to make but took a little longer to dip in chocolate and sprinkle with toppings. It was a fun and tasty cookie to make, though, and I’m excited to take them into work to share them. I made a salted caramel dipped with chocolate and sprinkled with flake salt, a chocolate dipped with crushed peppermint (candy canes), and a chocolate dipped with chopped snickers because that’s all I had on hand and wanted a third variety. The finished cookies freeze well.
Yummy! So easy and fun to make! I made the Chocolate Caramel Toffee version and made my own salted caramel sauce for the first time.
I love your recipes and have made so many successful ones. This dough went together like a dream and rolled up well. I did not get the 8″ long x2 1/2″ diameter log and I got more than 12 cookies per log which was great. I made the caramel but must have done something wrong. It is very sticky on the cookies. Should it be like this ? I don’t know what I should have done but am not sure I will do them again because the cookies stick to everything. I am sad bev they are delicious. Any suggestions would be welcome.
We decided to dip in chocolate and drizzle with salted caramel – yum! I would slice them a tad thinner than called for if I make again.