Made from only 6 ingredients, these easy lace cookies are ready in 30 minutes and they taste like sweet brown butter and caramel. Sandwich with a little chocolate for an extra special treat. Everyone loves these and they’re gluten free too!
Welcome to day 7 of Sally’s Cookie Palooza! If you’re just joining us, here are all the recipes published so far:
- Peppermint Bark Cookies
- Spritz Cookies
- Christmas Cookies in a Jar (with free printable!)
- Santa’s Whiskers Cookies
- Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Gingerbread House (December Baking Challenge!)
Day 7 calls for something easy. So easy you’ll think you’re doing something wrong. Made from only 6 ingredients, these lace cookies are ready in 30 minutes and they taste like sweet brown butter and caramel. As if you took caramel, mixed it with brown butter, and made it into a thin and crispy cookie. THEY’RE HEAVEN.
What are Lace Cookies?
Lace cookies are very thin and crunchy cookies made from butter, sugar, salt, and other ingredients. The other ingredients vary depending on the recipe. Some recipes use oats and flour, other lace cookie recipes use nuts. Lace cookies get their name from their delicate and see-through appearance. My mom always used to make these—they’re a beautiful cookie!
They’re also one of my favorite gluten free dessert recipes. It’s nice to have a gluten free option among your spread of Christmas cookies!
How to Make Lace Cookies
In an effort to keep these gluten free AND to add elevated flavor, my lace cookie recipe uses almond flour. In addition to almond flour, you’ll also need: butter, brown sugar, salt, milk or corn syrup, and vanilla extract. That’s it!
- The cookie dough is prepared on the stove. And I use the term “cookie dough” loosely as this is more like a cake batter. All the ingredients, except for the vanilla extract (stirred in later), are cooked for a few minutes in a saucepan before spooning onto the baking sheet. This cooking stage melts the ingredients together, while baking in the oven will create caramelized sugar and brown butter flavors.
- No chilling the cookie dough. But let it rest for about 5 minutes. The cookie dough will slightly thicken, making spooning onto the baking sheets easier.
- Only 1 scant teaspoon of cookie dough per cookie. Because they’ll spread!
- Short baking time – only 8 minutes. The cookies won’t spread out at first, but around the 4 minute mark, they’ll begin their spreading journey! Listen to the butter sizzling around the edges. I love these unique cookies!
Forget everything I taught you about how to prevent cookies from spreading. You want lace cookies to be extra thin and crisp because that’s where all the caramelization happens. 🙂
Be Extra
Though lace cookies have the most interesting flavor and texture, it’s Christmastime which means we can add a little flair. Sandwich your lace cookies with a generous spread of Nutella or melted chocolate and prepare for the cookie sandwich of a lifetime. Can you truly think of a better flavor combination than butter, caramelized sugar, vanilla, almond, and chocolate?! Nutella can get a little messy, so if you’re gifting or traveling with the lace cookies—I suggest melted chocolate. Unlike Nutella, melted chocolate will set. I have instructions for chocolate in the recipe notes below.
If you love adding a little chocolate to your cookies, give your chocolate ginger cookies and pinwheel cookies a dip in chocolate, too!
With an ingredient line up like this, how can lace cookies not taste good?
I just love how quick and simple these are—much appreciated during the busy holiday season and PERFECT if you want a unique cookie recipe to serve alongside the classics like Christmas sugar cookies and shortbread!
Easy Lace Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 30-32 cookies or 15-16 sandwiches
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made from only 6 ingredients, these lace cookies are ready in 30 minutes and they taste like sweet brown butter and caramel. Sandwich with a little chocolate for an extra special treat. Everyone loves these and they’re gluten free too!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup (130g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (75g)Â almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml)Â light or dark corn syrup or milk*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: 1/2 cup Nutella or melted chocolate (see note)
Instructions
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan on low heat. Once melted, add the brown sugar, almond flour, salt, and milk/corn syrup. Cook and whisk until sugar has dissolved and ingredients are completely combined, around 3-4 minutes. (Note: If melted butter is separating from the mixture, remove the pan from heat and vigorously whisk until it is all combined again. It will eventually come back together.)
- Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla extract. Mixture will be grainy and shiny. Allow cookie dough to sit and thicken for about 5-10 minutes as the oven preheats. The mixture will thicken as it cools down.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Drop scant teaspoonfuls (1 scant teaspoon of mixture per cookie, not Tablespoon) 3 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 6-8 minutes until golden brown around the edges. The edges and centers will sizzle and bubble as the cookies bake!
- Allow cookies to cool for 5 full minutes on the baking sheets before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Cookies dry and crisp up as they cool.
- Once cool, enjoy cookies or sandwich with Nutella or melted chocolate. To sandwich, spread either Nutella or melted chocolate onto the bottom of one cooled cookie and sandwich with another. See recipe note if using chocolate.
- Cookies without Nutella/chocolate filling will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 1 week. Cookies with Nutella/chocolate will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions:Â Baked cookies, with or without Nutella/chocolate filling, freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving. You can prepare the cookie dough in steps 1 and 2, cover tightly once cooled, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature, then continue with the recipe.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Saucepan | Whisk | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cooling Rack
- Almond Flour: I like using Bob’s Red Mill brand almond flour, found in the baking aisle of major grocery stores. If you can’t find almond flour in the store, you can make your own by simply pulsing almonds until they reach a gritty and rough flour-like consistency. Instead of almond flour, you can use the same amount of oat flour. (Buy oat flour or pulse whole oats into a flour.) All-purpose flour isn’t ideal because the cookies will not spread or caramelize. Some readers have used coconut flour, but note that the taste and texture is off. I strongly recommend almond flour.
- Either 1 Tablespoon of milk or corn syrup works in this lace cookie recipe. You need a liquid and the resulting cookie tastes exactly the same no matter which you choose. I prefer corn syrup because I find it makes the cookies just a *little* crispier.
- Nutella can get a little messy, so if you’re gifting or traveling with the lace cookies—I suggest using melted chocolate for sandwiching the cookies. Unlike Nutella, melted chocolate will set. Instead of sandwiching, try dunking the cookies in melted chocolate or drizzling the chocolate on top. Whichever way you prefer, use about 6-8 ounces of chopped semi-sweet chocolate. (I like Ghirardelli or Bakers brand, both found in the baking aisle.) Melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave in 15-second increments, stopping and stirring after each until completely smooth. Sandwich, dip, or drizzle onto cooled cookies. Allow chocolate to set completely in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or at room temperature for 30 minutes.
A big hit in my house! Super-easy to make and delicious.
I didn’t have corn syrup so I used Glucose Syrup, and sandwiched together with dark chocolate….. YUM
Thanks so much for this recipe – it’s a keeper!!
Made these in my Thermomix after i had first made the almond flour. I need to work out how to make them all the same size so I don’t have an excuse to eat the others! Yummy! I think they could be used to decorate other foods also by making them different shapes or cutting as soon as they come out.
Oh my goodness, these are so good and fancy and SO easy!
Delicious cookies and easier to make than I thought they would be.
However, mine were not as crisp as I remember them when I purchased at a bakery. Any suggestions?
I have made these cookies several times and they are always a hit. Used to buy them at an international store, very expensive. Prefer your recipe, thank you so much. Just follow the directions and they will be perfect every time. It only takes six minutes to bake in my oven.
I tried here cookies today while I had friends over. They came out so well! They are all almost gone by the end of the day! I’m most definitely making them again soon! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi,
Could I use almond milk instead of milk for the liquid?
Thanks!
Lia
I haven’t tested almond milk, but it should work here. Or use corn syrup!
Just made these and they are delicious. I followed the recipe as written and took the advice from the followers that suggested melting the butter and then the brown sugar, whisking very well before adding the rest of the ingredients. Worked beautifully and the cookies are not to “greasy”.
Cookies didn’t end up perfectly round, but still very presentable and of course very edible.
On a side note, Sally, I love your site…my go to for all my backing. I’ve shared your link with many friends and always make sure they read everything before starting to bake, you tips and guidelines are what make your recipes “no fail” every time for me. And the comments from your followers, which ensured my first attempt on these cookies was a success.
My husband is British and he says these lace cookies remind him of dime bars a British sweet. Now he wants me to make them all the time. Good thing I buy my Almond flour from Amazon where you can get a larger quantity. They did take some getting used to. But I kept playing with the amounts so I could get the right size cookie for us. Then I just covered the tops in chocolate and left it at that .DELICIOUS! If you wait until the batter cools down completely it seems to work a lot better.
The one time I found these cookies they had caramel sandwiched in too. When can I put the caramel in and how thin does it need to be?
YUM! Once cool, you can sandwich the cookies with caramel! This is my favorite easy recipe for homemade salted caramel: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/homemade-salted-caramel-recipe/
I’ve made this probably a dozen times at home and for parties and they are a hit; I keep getting requests to make them again! Thanks for publishing; I’ve shared the recipe with several askers.
I will often add cinnamon and ginger and sometimes almond extract but they’re delicious without too.
FWIW twice I had trouble getting the butter to incorporate and I think it happens when the heat is too high on the stove (even if I whisk like crazy); I keep it closer to medium-low now and it incorporates much better.
Delicious but very irregular
First batch hardened while sitting for five minutes as suggested before scooping out
Second batch had at least 4 tbs butter that never incorporated although I whipped the devil out of it. They really looked wonky and lopsided not nicely round and consistent size like yours
I used a teaspoon to measure out and gently flattened but word they were ugly?
How did you get such a perfect shape. The ones I made while delicious. Where spread out more with larger holes that u could see through. Could it have been the butter I used. I know some butter have a higher fat content than others. I used kerri gold and it was salted as well.
Hi Rebecca! Could have been the butter. Kerrygold has a higher butterfat content. It’s a lovely product and fantastic for cooking, but I don’t recommend it for baking recipes that can be on the particular side.
I made these lace cookies a couple of times now, and each time they are so addictive!!!! It was very loved by my daughter, even my son too (who’s not a sweetooth). I didn’t put chocolate in between, we just ate them as it is . I love your website Sally! Thank-you.
I have made these and they were a bit greasy as stated by someone and so thin that they broke very easily. Wondering if I add some instant oats to them, would they hold up better do you think?
You can definitely try!
I don’t know what I did wrong – followed recipe exactly. Maybe I kept them on the heat too long, because the texture is like no-bake cookies. They never spread in the oven, but kept a little mound shape. I pressed them down with the back of a spoon, but they still didn’t spread or bubble. Very sad. I’m sure the flavor will be great, but the texture and shape is nothing like the picture. Thoughts?
Hi Lori! Did you change the recipe or ingredients at all? With that much butter, I can’t imagine why the dough wouldn’t spread in the oven.
I just made these cookies today. When you first bite them, they are crisp and light. As you chew them, they become very chewy and actually stick in your teeth. Did I do something wrong?
That’s the texture 🙂 Crisp and chewy!
I made these two ways. One way is the flat cookie dipped in chocolate, the other is rolled ( a bit more difficult) Once the cookie was baked, I quickly rolled it on the end of a wooden spoon and slid it off. You have to be quick! They make a pretty contrast to all the flat round cookies!
Hi Sally,
I made these cookies over the weekend and I could not stop eating them. They were a real treat. Thanks for another great recipe!
I made these with my grand daughters today trying both almond and coconut flour. The almond flour ones turned out great and the girls loved them! The coconut flour cookies didn’t work at all, just for those who might be curious about that flour.
I make these gluten free cookies for my daughter every Christmas. For the filling I melt semi sweet bits and add any orange liquor and grated orange zest…
Delicious!
Great recipe!!! Made it for my family who doesn’t have a sweet tooth at all, and we all loved it. Thanks for the simple yet delicious recipe!
Great recipe and a hit at my family Christmas party! Thanks for sharing.
Excellent recipe Sally! My almond flour was out of date so I just made my own with almonds. I used dark brown sugar for depth of flavor and put melted milk chocolate on the flat side and let them dry completely. I didn’t sandwich them because I wanted more servings. Outstanding!! Merry Christmas!
I made it with all purpose flour because I didn’t have any other at home and butter completely disolved from the dough and the dough is not as smooth as yours:(
Hi Kate, you really need almond four for this recipe to turn out correctly!
Hi Sally,
I made these lace cookies yesterday and they were perfect. Thank you for sharing this recipe. A tip for those who couldn’t achieve a perfect round cookie – once the dough has sat for 10 minutes you can scoop it out with the teaspoon and form a ball in the palm of your hands. Roll the little ball between your palms and then flatten slightly, that way you end up with a perfect circular shape once baked. Also, I found that in my oven the cookies only needed to be baked for 5 minutes.
Thank you again Sally for this wonderful recipe! Merry Christmas.
I just made these and they were super easy and taste delicious! Thanks for another great recipe!
My first batch didn’t work. After looking through the comments, I tried cooking just the melted butter and brown sugar for 3 minutes. Then I added the almond flour, syrup, and salt. Then turned off the heat to add the vanilla. This batch turned out perfect! Thanks for this recipe – I have been looking for these!
There is definitely a learning curve with these cookies- it took me three cookie sheets to get them right but they were really good once I did! One of my problems was trying to put them on the baking sheet too soon, so it was difficult to get the right shape. I’m making a new batch tonight!