The fact that Maida includes a whole chapter dedicated to icebox cookies certainly dates this cookbook, but not because the recipes are old or out dated or not good anymore, no absolutely the opposite. But still a lot of the time I feel as though I’m taking a peak into an earlier time, such as when a refrigerator was still called an icebox. Ice because you had to put a big chunk of it delivered into your box to keep things cold. Then there were advances and now no one calls it that any more. So are there still people around who call this type of cookie an icebox cookie? I think more often they are called refrigerator cookies.

The beauty of them is their practicality, completely useful because they can be made ahead of time. The batter can even be frozen and then baked whenever you need them. I love that so much. And they’re also pretty easy, not a lot of ingredients, not a lot of fuss. Why these are called French may be a reference to a French vanilla wafer cookie although Maida gives no explanation, no introduction.

Two things come to mind that I would change about this cookie and one I actually did. First, Maida rolls the dough to a 2 inch circle, then wraps and refrigerates so the cookies will then be cut into thin wafer circles but it felt hard to form an even diameter and I ended up with a sort of lumpy oval. It would be easier form a rectangle shape, but then perhaps that would not be similar enough to a French wafer. I don’t know.

I also thought they were a bit too crispy, but maybe that was my baking too long. Regardless, I thought they would be improved with a bit of chocolate icing on top, so i made one and, yes, I think it helped the texture and added a bit of interest.

One last thought – this recipe made 60 cookies and that is a lot of little wafers. Dividing and freezing the batter to have ready for baking would be a good idea. Definitely perfection for spur of the moment entertaining.