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For The Best Icebox Cake, Avoid These Types Of Cookies

For more than 100 years, the icebox cake has been an American staple as the ultimate good-for-any-occasion dessert with endless flavor combinations. While it takes just two ingredients to make, cookies and whipped cream, having the right cookies for the cake is an absolute must. To make the decadent layers that the icebox cake is famous for, a good foundation of cookies is key, and not all cookies are treated equally for icebox cakes.

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When selecting your base, thicker cookies should be avoided. Although they may be bursting with flavor, they can harden in the fridge and prove difficult to slice. They also tend to be big around as well as thick, making it difficult to put very many in the bottom of a cake pan. Store-bought, pre-frosted cookies are challenging for similar seasons; they're thick and the frosting on top of them is hard to slice through once it chills. Cookies with mix-ins, such as chocolate chips, M&Ms, and chocolate chunks should be avoided as well because they don't soften enough to slice easily. 

Go back to basics with cookies

The simplicity of an icebox cake is a big reason why it has remained popular for so long and that simplicity extends to the cookies. While Nabisco's Famous Chocolate Wafers were the icebox cookie of choice for many years, they've been discontinued. With that in mind, simple, smaller, stackable cookies are recommended since the icebox cake is a layered dessert.

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The best cookies to use not only work well for structure but also complement the overall flavor of the cake. So chocolate cookies can add extra flavor to a chocolate cake for example, Nilla Wafers, available on Amazon for about $5 per box, can allow a strawberry-inspired cake to shine, and Honey Maid Graham Crackers, which cost just a bit more, are an ideal pairing for a smores-inspired icebox cake.

So the next time you're perusing the cookie aisle of your local grocer, stick with the classics. These types of cookies hold their structure well, are easy to line the bottom of a pan with and layer, and break apart easily when slices are served.

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