Home › Christmas Dinners › Sliced Nut Cookies
Sliced Nut Cookies
Cream 1 1/2 cups margarine with 1 cup white and 2 cups brown sugar; add 3 unbeaten eggs, beating them into the creamed mixture one at a time. Add 1/2 lb. chopped blanched almonds or other chopped nut meats. Sift together 4 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and fold into the first mixture. Shape the dough into a loaf, put it in a greased bread pan, and chill over night. In morning, cut off thin slices like you would a loaf of bread, and bake 15 minutes in hot oven (400 degrees).
A classic icebox cookie dough: the whole point is the overnight chill, which firms the fat enough that you can slice paper-thin rounds off a loaf.
- Chill is not optionalThe dough must be thoroughly cold and firm before slicing, or the slices tear and spread. Overnight in the refrigerator is the minimum; a wrapped log will keep several days, and freezes well.
- Slicing thickness"Thin slices like a loaf of bread" means about 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Thicker slices will still be soft in the centre at 15 minutes; thinner ones may be done in 8 to 10.
- Loaf pan vs. logA bread pan gives rectangular cookies with square corners. If you prefer rounds, roll the dough into cylinders about 2 inches thick in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill those instead.
- Oven temperatureThe recipe helpfully gives its own number: 400F. Watch the last few minutes, as thin slices with this much sugar go from golden to scorched quickly.
- MargarineMid-century margarine was a firm, hydrogenated block fat. Use stick margarine or butter, not soft tub spreads, which carry more water and will slacken the dough.
- Blanched almondsBuy them blanched and slivered, or pour boiling water over whole almonds, stand a minute, and slip the skins off. Chop fine; large pieces catch the knife when slicing.
- YieldThis is a large batch, several dozen cookies, the exact number depending on slice thickness and the size of the pan. Bake in stages straight from the refrigerator.
- Baking soda without acidThere is no sour milk or molasses here, so the soda works mainly on the brown sugar's slight acidity and on browning. Don't substitute baking powder measure for measure.