Vintage Friday: Caramel Fridge Cookies 1942

Greenbelt, Maryland. Federal housing project. Mrs. Leslie Atkins 8d20972v
Marjory Collins [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
With countless men overseas at war and women working in factories, the World War II era saw baking become more simplified and streamlined. Refrigerator cookies became the popular go to treat because the dough could be made of an evening and sliced and baked the following day. Today we walk into a grocery store and buy refrigerator cookies, but in 1942 the dough had to be prepared.

CARAMEL FRIDGE COOKIES 1942

Ingredients: ¼ cup butter, ¼ cup shortening, I egg, 1 cup packed brown sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla, 1 ¾ cups plain flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt.

Directions: Mix butter, shortening, egg, sugar, and vanilla. Dip or sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Stir dry ingredients into the shortening mixture. Form dough into a roll 2 ½ inches wide. Chill overnight or at least until firm.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice dough into 1/8 inch slices. Place not touching on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until lightly browned. This recipe makes 5 dozen cookies.

Variation: A cup of finely chopped nuts may be added to the dough before it is shaped into a roll. If so, form dough into 2 rolls instead of one. This will produce 6 ½ dozen cookies.

These cookies are best served with a cup of coffee and a good book.

Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Fantasy Romance 

 

 

By Flossie Benton Rogers

Paranormal romance author who loves to shake the edges of reality.

8 comments

  1. Yam-yam! Anyway, just reading about all your delicious recipes I feel I am getting weight.I like the combination — cookies, a good book and, it goes without saying, a cup of coffee.
    May you enjoy all of them on a lovely weekend, Flossie!

    Reply

    1. Those cookies are good, and so versatile too. I love the old recipes. Have a great weekend, Carmen. This is the worst time of each year for me, this week, and I appreciate your good thoughts.

      Reply

  2. I like your serving recommendations! Wild Mountain Blueberry is the coffee of choice this morning. Now if I only had a moment to relax with some cookies and reading 🙂

    Reply

    1. Yum– Wild Mountain Blueberry sounds absolutely divine. Our lives are way too hectic, aren’t they? Where did the days go of puttering and reading? Or was that some dream I had?

      Reply

  3. great post! I still make freezer cookies for my dad He loves my Peanut butter cookies so wheni visit before I leave I fill his cookie jar then make him a double bach of the dough into balls so all he has to do is bake them. I am gonna try this recipe!

    Reply

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