Home › Extra-Special Company Cakes and Cookies › Caramel Cookies
Caramel Cookies
1 cup shortening 2 cups brown sugar 2 eggs, well beaten 1/2 cup nut meats, chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 1/2 cups flour 1/4 teaspoon soda 1/4 teaspoon salt Cream shortening and sugar, add eggs, nuts and vanilla. Sift together flour, soda and salt and mix until stiff. Make a thick roll, wrap in paraffin paper and chill over night. Slice in thin slices with very sharp knife and bake in a moderate oven on a greased baking sheet. Makes six dozen, cut 2 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches.
A classic icebox cookie: the dough is a log, chilled hard, then sliced thin. The chilling is not optional — it is what makes clean slices possible.
- Oven temperature"Moderate" here means 350°F. Thin slices bake fast; check at 8 minutes and expect 8–10 minutes total.
- Paraffin paperWaxed paper, sold in the same rolls today. Plastic wrap or parchment works better and holds a tighter log.
- ShorteningIn this period this means vegetable shortening or lard. Butter gives better flavour; if you use it, keep the log well chilled and work quickly, as butter dough warms and softens fast once out of the refrigerator.
- Brown sugar is the caramelThere is no caramel cooked or added — the name comes from the flavour of two full cups of brown sugar. Pack it firmly when measuring, and use light or dark to taste.
- Soda quantityA quarter teaspoon of soda for 2 1/2 cups flour is a small amount; these are not cookies that rise much. There is no need to increase it.
- SlicingSlice about 1/8 inch thick with a thin, very sharp blade, rotating the log a quarter turn every few cuts so it does not flatten on one side. Return the log to the refrigerator if it starts to give.
- YieldThe stated slice size of 2 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches implies a log rectangular in cross-section rather than a cylinder, so press the chilled roll into a rectangle. Whether six dozen comes out depends on how thin you slice.
- Baking sheetsGreasing is fine but parchment is cleaner and prevents the sugary edges sticking. Cool a minute on the sheet before moving; they firm as they cool.