Ice Box Cookies (Refrigerator Cookies)

These easy ice box cookies are soft, chewy, and moist. They are a classic slice and bake cookie with cardamom, candied citrus, and a rum glaze!

These classic ice box cookies (also known as refrigerator cookies) are soft, chewy, and ridiculously easy to make. They’re flavored with cardamom, bright lemon, and a splash of rum, then finished with a simple rum glaze. The best part? Roll the dough into logs, chill them, cut, and bake whenever you want fresh cookies. No fuss, no chill time before slicing, just slice-and-bake perfection.

These cookies made it into my top-tier holiday lineup alongside soft gingerbread cookies, cherry cookies, spice cookies, and Moravian Christmas cookies. They’re that good. They are the perfect addition to any holiday cookie platter!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Butter
• Large Egg
• Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar adds sweetness. Too much makes cookies spread flat; the right amount keeps them soft and chewy.
• Ground Cardamom: I prefer cardamom seeds ground fresh, but pre-ground cardamom works. Try these almond crescent cookies or browned butter cardamom snickerdoodles if you love cardamom too!
• All-Purpose Flour
• Lemon Zest
• Rum: The rum adds moisture and flavor. You’ll taste it in the final cookies, so use a brand you like. I use dark rum. Vanilla extract works if you want to skip the rum.
• Baking Powder
• Candied Lemon Peel: I used store-bought candied lemon peel for this batch, but homemade candied fruit peel is even better.
• Almonds
• Powdered Sugar

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations

• Citrus: Swap lemon for orange zest and candied orange zest for a quick flavor change. You could even try these with key limes, blood oranges, or lime! I think tequila would go great with the lime!
• Mix-ins: Use walnuts or pecans instead of almonds. Mix in pistachios, chocolate chips, or sprinkles. Put cherries or cranberries in the middle as I do with these cranberry thumbprint cookies.
• Cardamom: Not a cardamom fan? Use cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, speculoos spice mix, or another spice. Start with ¼ teaspoon cloves—the orange-clove combo is fantastic, like in these sourdough hot crossed buns.
• Glazes: Dip the cookies in melted chocolate or white chocolate, like my spritz cookie recipe. If you want to skip them rum you can use vanilla or lemon to flavor the glaze as well.

Professional Tips

• Give the cookie dough a second roll. The cookie dough will be soft after mixing and will be difficult to roll into a nice cylindrical shape. Allow the log to chill for about an hour, then roll it again to get perfect circles.
• Your bake will depend on how thick you cut the cookie. The thickness of the cookie will determine how fast it will bake. Mine were a ¼ of an inch thick and baked 7-9 mins.
• If slicing from frozen, let the dough sit out for a few minutes. If your log is completely frozen when you go to cut it, the cookie dough can crumble. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes, then begin slicing.

How to Make Ice Box Cookies

Use these instructions to make the perfect rum icebox cookies every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

To Make the Cookies:

Step 1: Zest the lemon into the sugar and massage with a gloved hand to distribute. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and cardamom.

This pulls out the lemon flavor from the zest and breaks up any clumps.

Step 2: Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. If your butter is room temperature, this takes 1–2 minutes max.

Step 3: Add the egg and beat until fluffy. Add rum and beat to combine.

Step 4: Sift the dry ingredients directly into the bowl. Mix on low until just combined.

Step 5: Fold in the sliced almonds and candied lemon peel. I do this in the mixer on low—just don’t overmix.

Step 6: Shape into two 2-inch logs using parchment paper. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm—several hours or overnight.

Step 7: Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Cut ¼-inch slices and place on parchment-lined baking sheets.

I like to rotate the log when I slice to keep it circular.

Step 8: Bake for 7–8 minutes. They will look matte and will have puffed slightly.

Step 9: Cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

To Make the Rum Glaze:

Step 10: Whisk together rum and powdered sugar until smooth.

Check consistency: if it doesn’t run smoothly from the whisk, it’s too thick. Add more rum, a teaspoon at a time. If it’s not white or just slightly off-white, it’s too thin—add more powdered sugar.

Step 11: Transfer to a disposable piping bag or zip-top baggie. Cut a small hole. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. To flood them, draw a circle with glaze about ¼ inch inside the edge, then squeeze to fill the circle. Let dry before stacking.

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

Check out our other delicious, chef-developed cookie recipes! Check out these other easy Christmas cookie recipes, some traditional Christmas cookies, or peruse all our Christmas cookie recipes!