I found these recipes in a book I'm giving to my daughter for Christmas...The Ultimate Short Cut Cookie Book. You may also want to check the web site of the brand of toffee bits you have used to see if they have a recipe. -Grainlady CASHEW BRICKLE COOKIES 1 (16.5-oz.) roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough 1 c. chopped lightly salted, roasted cashews 1/2 c. almond toffee baking bits Preheat oven to 375-degrees F. Spray two cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Cut cookie dough in half. Roll out half of the dough between two sheets of wax paper to form a 10x6-inch rectangle. Remove top sheet of wax paper. Invert dough onto one of the prepared cookie sheets. Remove remaining sheet of wax paper. Sprinkle dough evenly with half of the nuts and half of the toffee bits. Repeat with remaining dough, nuts, and toffee bits on second cookie sheet. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Cool on cookie sheets on a wire rack. Remove cookies to cutting board using two spatulas. Use a sharp knife to cut cooled cookies into irregular shapes. Makes about 42 cookies. ALMOND TOFFEE BARS 1 (16.5-oz.) roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough, well chilled 1 c. semisweet (or milk) chocolate chips 1 c. toffee baking bits 1 c. sliced (or chopped) almonds 1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with foil. Cut cookie dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices in bottom of the prepared pan. With floured fingers, press dough evenly to form crust. Sprinkle the chocolate chips, toffee bits, and almonds evenly over prepared crust. Drizzle evenly with sweetened condensed milk. Bake 25-28 minutes or until edges are bubbly and center is just lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately run a narrow metal spatula or table knife around edges of pan to loosen. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack; cut into bars. Makes 36 bars.

My 4 year old great niece and her mom are dropping by on Monday probably for not more than an hour. They live about 2.5 hours away and are going to be in town visiting other relatives, too. I’d like to have a fun activity for her. I want to be the cool aunt! I thought I might make up a batch of sugar cookies. Then when she and her mom get here, she and I would roll them in sprinkles and we’d bake them. She could take them home with her! I do not know what time they will arrive, but I want to have everything ready to go when they get here. Assume I will not know when they are going to be here until they are at the front door. How long can I let the dough set out once it is made? Can I go ahead, make the dough balls, and refrigerate them? I hesitate to refrigerate the entire bowl of dough because it will be too stiff to work with. This is the recipe I use. It is from Stella Parks when she was blogging as BraveTart.

Oil cookies are very specific. The science of what happens during baking is way different. I wouldn't go there without leisure to test the recipe. There's nothing simpler than true shortbread, AP flour, granulated sugar, solid fat (butter, shortening (eew) or "baking stick" margarine (100 Calories per TBSP). Each has a different flavor and texture, but all work. Cream fat and sugar, add flour, any add-ins, chill, roll or shape, bake. I'm not sure that makes the best general base however. I've done it, but while the cookies look really different, even with flavorings added, etc., I think they all taste like shortbread. There are a ton of good cookie recipes that only yield a dozen average suzed cookies. If you really want variety, I'd make 5-6 of those, rather than one huge batch of generic dough with varied finishes. OTOH, if it's for a party, rather than house guests, or gift baskets, most people will only eat one or two cookies, so it wouldn't matter if there's aa underlying sameness.

"I am going to try freezing shortbread and oatmeal raisin. I read that they work well." No problem at all; I do it all the time. I freeze most cookie doughs with great results, including shortbread, sugar cookie and any type of oatmeal or other drop cookie doughs. Right now I have a lot of cookie dough in the freezer, including shortbread, sugar cookie, oatmeal/cranberry, gingerbread and molasses. What I wouldn't freeze are more delicate cookie doughs that have more liquid and are thinner, such as florentines and tuiles. Sooz, freeze away! I agree with plllog. Snickerdoodle dough freezes beautifully but add the coating right before baking.