Lace Cookies

These thin and crispy lace cookies are unlike most other cookie recipes you’ve probably baked in the past. That said, they’re a welcome departure from classic chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. The low flour content creates a delicate texture from lack of structure. This causes the dough to spread and take on a beautiful brittle look. If you’ve never made them before, you need to add them to your baking bucket list pronto.

A lace cookies recipe can be enjoyed any time of the year but is most popular during the holiday season (like these other classic Christmas cookie recipes). The cookies look stunning on a tray alongside other holiday favorites, such as Linzer cookies, gingerbread cutout cookies and buttery spritz cookies.

This particular recipe for lace cookies takes a page from sandwich cookie recipes. Two lace cookies are held together with melted chocolate. This isn’t traditional but is still a popular adaptation of the classic lace cookies recipe. If desired, you can leave the cookies unsandwiched and plain to allow their delicate, crispy texture and caramelly flavor to shine.

What are lace cookies?

Lace cookies are extremely thin, delicate cookies made predominantly from butter, sugar and just a small amount of flour (or sometimes ground oats), which helps them form their iconic, lacy look. Some recipes, like this one, are also made with ground nuts, but some lace cookies are made without nuts too. In most cookie recipes, you don’t want flat cookies. However, lace cookies rely on spreading to create their doily-like appearance.

Sometimes called Florentines, lace cookies are related to British brandy snaps in taste, appearance and preparation. There are a few differences, though. Namely, lace cookies and Florentines are baked and allowed to cool flat, whereas brandy snaps are rolled into a tubular shape while still warm and then filled with cream once cooled (like cannoli). The cookie dough for brandy snaps also traditionally contains brandy, along with molasses and other spices.

Ingredients for Lace Cookies

• Brown sugar: Rather than granulated sugar, lace cookies are typically made with brown sugar to give the cookies a richer color and toffee-like flavor due to the molasses.
• Butter: Lace cookies require a high ratio of butter to flour to spread and achieve their unique appearance. The best butters for baking, like Kerrygold, usually have a high butterfat ratio.
• Milk: A smidge of milk thins the batter to the perfect consistency. We use 2% milk, but whole milk may also be used.
• Pecans: This recipe for lace cookies includes ground pecans, which add a nutty flavor and aroma to the cookies (as in snowball cookies). We also like the added crunch pecans give to the otherwise delicate cookie.
• Flour: This lace cookies recipe contains just enough flour to give the dough some body and structure so the cookies don’t melt into a liquid caramel in the oven. Take care not to add too much flour (here’s how to measure flour accurately) or your lace cookies will not be, well, lacy!
• Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract adds depth of flavor to these delicate, caramelly cookies. Good vanilla extracts will use real vanilla rather than a synthetic version.
• Chocolate chips: If you wish, you can melt chocolate and sandwich it between two cookies. It makes the cookies wonderfully decadent, but you can omit it if you prefer your lace cookies recipe plain.

Directions

Step 1: Make the dough

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and milk. Cook and stir over medium heat for three to four minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in the pecans, flour and vanilla just until they are incorporated.

Editor’s Tip: Don’t overmix your lace cookie dough. Doing so will overwork the gluten and lead to lace cookies that are a little less delicate.

Step 2: Spoon onto a sheet pan

Drop the dough by 1/2 teaspoonfuls, 3 inches apart, onto foil-lined baking sheets.

Editor’s Tip: The dough is sticky, so spray your spoon with a small amount of cooking spray to help transfer the dough neatly onto your lined sheet pans.

Step 3: Bake the cookies

Bake for five to seven minutes or until golden brown and lacy. Cool completely before carefully removing from the foil-lined pans.

Editor’s Tip: Lace cookies bake fast, so don’t walk away. Depending on the accuracy of your oven’s temperature (try investing in a cheap oven thermometer), it may take a little finesse to find the perfect cooking time. Watch your first batch closely, and pull the cookies out when they get that perfect lacy texture and golden brown hue.

Step 4: Sandwich with melted chocolate

While the cookies cool, add the chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl and melt in 30-second intervals at 50% power, stirring after each round until smooth. Spread 1 teaspoon melted chocolate on half the cookies then cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until set. Once set, store between pieces of waxed paper in an airtight container at room temperature.

Recipe Variations

• Drizzle or dip the cookies: Once they are cool, you may dip the bottom of each lace cookie in tempered chocolate (or brush it on) as an alternative to making lace cookie sandwiches. You could also drizzle the cookies with melted chocolate instead.
• Add texture: Before the chocolate has set, sprinkle a handful of chopped or sliced nuts on top for added texture and crunch.
• Try other fillings: Chocolate is hardly the only filling option for a lace cookies recipe. Once the cookies are cooled, you could also spread a little homemade jam or jelly, peanut butter, salted caramel sauce or Nutella between the lace cookies.
• Use other nuts: If you don’t have pecans, you may also make the recipe for lace cookies with ground hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, macadamia or walnuts.

How to Store Lace Cookies

Lace cookies are best stored at room temperature in an airtight food storage container. If stacking, separate the layers of lace cookies with pieces of waxed paper.

How long do lace cookies last?

Lace cookies will typically stay crisp and fresh for up to one week. However, these delicate cookies are highly susceptible to humidity. Therefore, if your kitchen is humid, the cookies may begin to soften after only a few days. Here are more tips for proper cookie storage.

Can you freeze lace cookies?

Yes, you can freeze lace cookies separated by layers of waxed paper in an airtight food storage container. Lace cookies will stay fresh for up to three months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and allow them to come to room temperature before serving. Note that thawed lace cookies may not be quite as crisp as those not previously frozen (but they will still be delicious).

Lace Cookies Tips

Why are my lace cookies sticky?

Humidity is the number one enemy of lace cookies. Making a recipe for lace cookies on a hot, humid day can be an uphill battle that results in sticky cookies. Do your best to manage the humidity in your kitchen while making lace cookies. If humidity is not a factor, sticky lace cookies can happen when your cookie dough is too warm or too wet.

Is there a nut-free substitute for lace cookies?

Yes! If you have a nut allergy, you can swap in an equal amount of ground oats for the ground nuts in the lace cookies recipe. Here are more allergy-free treats to try.

Can I make lace cookies gluten-free?

Yes, you can make a gluten-free version of the lace cookies recipe. Swap in an equal amount of ground nuts or an equal amount of oat flour for the flour. You can also experiment with making the recipe for lace cookies with an equal amount of your favorite 1-to-1 gluten-free baking blend.