Oatmeal Lace Cookies

Lace cookies are pure drama on a cookie tray. Tiny spoonfuls of thin batter spread into wide, paper-thin wafers with a lacy, open pattern of caramelized oats and brown sugar. They look intricate and fancy, but the method is drop-dead simple.

The batter is deliberately loose. Melted butter, an egg beaten with heavy cream and vanilla, and brown sugar create a wet mixture that barely holds together when stirred into the oats and flour. That’s by design. The thin batter needs to spread across the cookie sheet, so every teaspoonful expands into a flat, crispy disk in about 5 minutes flat.

Brandy-soaked currants are an optional addition that takes these from good to outstanding. The brandy plumps the currants and adds little pockets of boozy fruit scattered across the lace. Even without them, the brown sugar and butter caramelize together into a butterscotch-like flavor that makes these dangerously addictive.

Kitchen Tips

• Leave at least 3 inches between each drop of batter. These cookies spread dramatically and will merge into one giant sheet if crowded.
• Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for several minutes before attempting to move them. They’re flexible and fragile when hot and tear easily. They firm up as they cool.
• Use a thin, flexible spatula to transfer. A thick spatula will crack them.
• Bake only 5-6 minutes until lightly browned. Even 30 seconds too long turns them from golden to bitter.

Variations

• While still warm and flexible, drape cookies over a rolling pin or dowel to form curved tuile shapes for an elegant dessert presentation.
• Sandwich two cookies with melted dark chocolate spread between them for chocolate-oat lace sandwich cookies.
• Replace currants with finely chopped dried cranberries for a tarter, more colorful variation.