Grandma's Icebox Cookies

These are the kind of cookies your grandmother kept a roll of dough in the fridge for, ready to slice and bake whenever company showed up. The dough holds in the refrigerator overnight or in the freezer for weeks, making them one of the best make-ahead cookies around.

What sets these apart is the cardamom. It’s an unusual spice in American baking, but paired with cinnamon, lemon juice, and vanilla, it gives these cookies a warm, almost Scandinavian character. Just a quarter teaspoon is enough to notice without being overpowering.

The recipe specifically calls for margarine instead of butter, and that’s deliberate. Margarine makes the dough firmer when chilled, so it slices cleaner. Cut them paper thin, about ⅛ inch, for cookies that bake up shatteringly crisp.

Chef Tips

• Slice the dough straight from the fridge while it’s firm. If it softens, pop it back in for 15 minutes. Warm dough squishes instead of cutting cleanly.
• Use a sharp, thin knife and a gentle sawing motion. Pressing down smashes the round shape into an oval.
• Space the slices close together on the baking sheet. These don’t spread much.
• Watch carefully after 12 minutes. Paper-thin cookies go from golden to burnt in under a minute.

Variations

• Chocolate dipped: Dip half of each cooled cookie in melted dark chocolate and let set on parchment.
• Citrus version: Replace the lemon juice with orange juice and add a teaspoon of orange zest to the dough.
• Spiced pecan: Use pecans and double the cardamom and cinnamon for a more heavily spiced cookie.