Slice and Bake Oatmeal Cookies

Some time ago now, I purchased Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies for next to nothing at a thrift shop.  I have been wanting to try a few recipes from it for the longest time......but there are no pictures in the book to aid me in making my choice.  Finally I decided to go just pick one and opted to go with convenience and try the Oatmeal Icebox recipe since it will be a busy weekend, and I love the concept of the nice uniform size and shape and quite honesty the ease of having a roll of dough in the fridge that I can easily slice off some fresh baked cookies with little effort.  Less time cooking....more time visiting.  They turned out to be crisp on the outside and a bit chewy on the inside since I only baked them for about 10 minutes just until the cookies were nicely browned.  The instructions called for a 12 to 14 minute bake time.  Maybe I'll try the last roll of dough at the longer bake time and see if I like the difference.  Maybe they will be even better??  I pressed my dough into a wax paper lined loaf pan and once chilled cut the loaf into three long rows.  To bake I sliced 1/4 inch slices and placed them on a foil lined cookie sheet and cooled the cookies on the sheet after baking.  Before baking the slices were 2 inches by 2 inches.

Oatmeal Icebox Cookies
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1/2 pound  butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and ginger and set aside.  In a large bowl, cream the butter, both sugars, and the vanilla and beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Gradually add in the sifted ingredients.  Stir in nuts if using.  Shape dough into logs or as desired and refrigerate over night or until firm enough to slice cleanly with a sharp knife. 
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F.  Slice dough into 1/4 inch thick slices and lay them with 2 inches between each cookie on foil lined cookie sheets. Bake 10 minutes until browned and remove from oven to cool.  Once cool store in tightly sealed container.