It doesn’t get fancier or more Christmassy than these glittery-edged cookies sporting studs of red and green. But all that festivity comes in an easy slice-and-bake package, so you can always keep a log of dough in the fridge, ready to go when company unexpectedly comes calling.
This is just one of Gourmet’s Favorite Cookies: 1941-2008. Although we’ve retested the recipes, in the interest of authenticity we’ve left them unchanged: The instructions below are still exactly as they were originally printed.
2000s Recipes + Menus
Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies
Makesabout 3 dozen cookies
- Active time:20 min
- Start to finish:2 1/2 hr
December 2006
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
- 1/2 cup shelled pistachios (2 1/4 oz; not dyed red)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries (1 1/4 oz)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup decorative sugar (preferably coarse)
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Special equipment:
parchment paper
Make dough:
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Stir together flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.
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Beat together butter, granulated sugar, and zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until dough just comes together in clumps, then mix in pistachios and cranberries. Gather and press dough together, then divide into 2 equal pieces. Using a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper as an aid, form each piece of dough into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Square off long sides of each log to form a bar, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until very firm, at least 2 hours.
Slice and bake cookies:
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Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Brush egg over all 4 long sides of bars (but not ends). Sprinkle decorative sugar on a separate sheet of parchment or wax paper and press bars into sugar, coating well.
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Cut each bar crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, rotating bar after cutting each slice to help keep square shape. (If dough gets too soft to slice, freeze bars briefly until firm.) Arrange cookies about 1/2 inch apart on lined baking sheets.
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Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are pale golden, 15 to 18 minutes total. Transfer cookies from parchment to racks using a slotted spatula and cool completely.
Cooks’ notes:
- Dough bars can be chilled up to 3 days or frozen, wrapped in plastic wrap and then foil, 1 month (thaw frozen dough in refrigerator just until dough can be sliced).
- Cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature 5 days.
- Keywords
- favorite cookies 1941-2008,
- cookies,
- maggie ruggiero,
- winter holidays,
- fruit
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