Refrigerator (or Rolled) Cookies

Refrigerating this dough gives you a stiff consistency that’s perfect for rolling and cutting out cookies: think Christmas cookies. Alternatively, you can roll the dough into a log and then slice off rounds to create the cookies. Make batches of dough ahead of time, freeze it, and they’re cookies-on-call, ready to be sliced off the log or thawed, rolled, and cut. Generally, rolled cookies are more crumbly and less chewy than drop cookies. But if you want them on the chewy side, underbake them by a couple of minutes, removing them from the oven while the center is still a little soft.

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus some for the baking sheets

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the work surface

Pinch salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon milk, or as needed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugar; add the egg and beat until well blended.
• Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the dough, adding a little milk at a time as necessary to make the dough just soft enough to handle. Stir in the vanilla.
• Shape the dough into a disk (for rolled cookies) or a log (for sliced cookies), wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days (or wrap very well and freeze indefinitely).
• Heat the oven to 400 F. Cut the dough disk in half. Lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin and roll gently until about 1/8 inch thick, adding flour as necessary and turning the dough to prevent sticking. Cut with any cookie cutter. (To slice, simply cut slices about 1/8 inch thick from the chilled or frozen log.)
• Bake on lightly greased baking sheets until the edges are lightly brown and the center set, 6 to 10 minutes.
• Cool for about 2 minutes on the sheets before using a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for no more than a day or two.

Lighter Rolled Cookies.
• Not as dense and rich as the main recipe: In Step 1, add 1/2 cup more white (or brown) sugar and beat 2 eggs into the creamed butter and sugar. In Step 2, add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to the dry ingredients (including the baking powder); add 1/4 cup milk to the batter along with the flour mixture.

Peanut Butter Cookies.
• In Step 1, cream 1/2 to 3/4 cup peanut butter with the butter and sugar. You can use smooth or crunchy peanut butter as you like. You can also add about 1/2 cup chopped peanuts (try those with salt for an interesting change), along with the vanilla, in Step 2.

Rosemary Sugar Cookies.
• A sophisticated cookie that will please adults and kids: Substitute 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh rosemary (or 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried) for the vanilla extract. Proceed with the recipe; sprinkle the cookies with coarse or raw sugar halfway through baking.

Brown Sugar and Salt Cookies.
• Use a nice sea salt or similar: Substitute brown sugar for the white sugar. Proceed with the recipe; sprinkle each cookie with just a tiny pinch of sea salt halfway through baking.

MAKES: At least 3 dozen

TIME: 30 minutes, plus time to chill