Butterscotch Cookies #2

A Vintage Icebox Cookie with Date Filling

This is an old-school refrigerator cookie. The brown-sugar dough gets shaped into logs and chilled until firm enough to slice into wafer-thin rounds, then a cooked filling of dates, nuts, and sugar gets sandwiched between slices before baking.

The deep butterscotch flavor comes from three full cups of brown sugar, no white sugar in the dough at all. That molasses depth is what separates these from generic sugar cookies, and it pairs cleanly with the jammy, sweet date filling once everything bakes together.

A “slow oven” in vintage parlance means around 325°F (165°C). Keep the heat moderate so the dough sets without browning too fast, otherwise the edges crisp up before the filling has a chance to warm through.

Kitchen Tips

• Chill the dough logs for at least three hours, or overnight. Soft logs squash when you slice and the cookies bake misshapen.
• Use a thin, sharp knife with a sawing motion to slice the rounds. A dull knife drags and tears the dough.
• Cook the filling until it’s thick and spreadable, not loose. Runny filling oozes out of the cookie sandwiches and burns on the pan.
• Watch the bake closely. These cookies go from pale to over-browned in under a minute at the end.

Variations

• Swap the dates for chopped figs or prunes for a different dried-fruit chew.
• Use walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts depending on what’s in the pantry.
• Add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon to the filling for warm spice.