LEMON REFRIGERATOR COOKIES - 1948

600 Recipes
By the LADIES AID of
ROCK VALLE LUTHERAN CHURCH
1948
Echo, Minnesota


LEMON REFRIGERATOR COOKIES

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded cocoanut, if desired

Cream butter, sugar, egg yolks and grated lemon rind and juice. Then add the sifted dry ingredients. Mix well; add cocoanut. To bake immediately mold in balls and press on cooky sheet. For refrigerator cookies, mold in long roll, wrap in wax paper and chill. Slice and bake as needed. bake in moderately hot oven, 375 degrees F. for 8-10 minutes. This makes five dozen small cookies. For fancy cooky press potato masher on top of cookies. --Martha Moe

This recipe is definitely a KEEPER! I wouldn't even consider making them without the coconut (yes, the recipe book spells it cocoanut.) My usual cookie recipes are peanut butter cookies, Berry Nutty Oatmeal (my own original recipe) and chocolate chip cookies. These are a great addition to my regular recipes and I will make them again and again. Yes, they are that good.

I baked some immediately and then baked a few later to see if there was a difference in the cookies (yes, the recipe book spells it cooky.) I tried to make them 'fancy' by pressing in a masher. The impression remained (somewhat) in the refrigerated dough but not when I cooked them immediately.

I'm really enjoying learning about the history of these recipes and found the following on refrigerator cookies: source

"With the invention of the electric refrigerator, many recipes were updated, among them icebox rolls and icebox cookies. Icebox cookies were renamed refrigerator cookies, although of course the basic recipe remained the same. The cookie dough was mixed, and then the directions advised you to place the dough in the 'refrigerator' until thoroughly chilled.

Fortunately, for those of us who love homemade treats, these recipes have survived. Whether you call them icebox or refrigerator cookies, they are still convenient and they taste mighty good. No cooking experience is really necessary to prepare refrigerator cookies from scratch. What could be easier or tastier? The cookie dough is very simple to make and once chilled, the cookies may be baked a few at a time as needed. Almost any dough can be frozen and will keep a couple of months if carefully wrapped. The baked cookies also freeze well, and sometimes it's better to bake all the cookies at once and then freeze some to serve later. This method messes up the kitchen and the cookie sheets only once."