Icebox cookie

Harold McGee, in On Food and Cooking, lists icebox cookies as one of the standard American cookie types. They are formed by slicing cross-sections from a premade cylinder of dough kept in the refrigerator for use when needed, and he notes that many cookie doughs can be prepared this way.

The method is simple. The dough is mixed, shaped into a log, wrapped, and chilled until firm. When it is time to bake, the baker cuts the cold log into rounds and places them on a baking sheet. Because the dough is made ahead, a batch can be ready when guests arrive.

McGee sets icebox cookies beside drop cookies, cut-out cookies, hand-shaped cookies and bar cookies. Where cut-out cookies are rolled and cut with a cutter, icebox cookies skip the rolling, which is why the slices come out in tidy matching rounds.