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) almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) 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: 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.
This recipe was amazing and delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfectly. I made cookie sandwiches with chocolate ganache and they were so good!
I wonder if these cookies could be made peanut butter somehow. Clearly you could sandwich them with pb and that sounds awesome, but what about a crispy caramelized pb lace cookie?
I would think using pb powder would work, maybe substituting a little of the flour out? I bet they would be good. I have some pb powder, I’ll have to try it and see if it works.
Thank you, what a good idea! It might call for some delicious recipe testing, since peanut butter powder has a really different fat content, etc. from almond flour, so like you say, maybe some of both or other adjusting. Haven’t personally worked with either yet, but def inspired. Also excited to try Sally’s Lace Cookies as written which to reiterate is always a good idea to try first! Cheers, y’all.
These are so good and so easy. I found this recipe looking for something to do with almond flour (I’m wimping out on macarons). I think today when I make them (3rd time in a week) I’ll use a 1/2 tsp. to measure out the cookie. Thanks so much for this one!
I wish there was a way to share a pic. Made these for my daughters birthday and they were perfection. Just made another batch because someone asked for an order and I doubled the recipe. Hope it turns out as good.
Hello! Oh may I please ask how it turned out when you doubled the recipe? I want to make the sandwiches but want more than 15 because im greedy haha
did doubling all the ingredients work to double the number it yields? Thank you!
I’ve made these twice before and they’ve been a hit! Has anyone tried subbing olive oil for butter? I’d like to try to make these gluten free and vegan, but am worried about swapping in an monounsaturated fat source instead of something with mainly saturated fats.
Hi Aditi, we don’t suggest using olive oil in these lace cookies. You could try making these with a vegan butter substitute such as Earth Balance – other bakers have reported success with that swap.
Sally, Thank you so much for this recipe. My wife was craving a taste of her childhood, and this was the perfect fit. They came out spot on, and were everything my wife was desiring.
Came out chewy. Baked several minutes past 8 and still ended up chewy. Used exact ingredients indicated. Still chewy after cooling quite some time. Is there any way to crisp them up after the fact?
Mine are a bit chewy as well–wondering if it is related to my butter being a high-quality Irish butter instead of just a regular butter…?
Amazing recipe, Sally! I overbaked the first tray, but the second tray was perfect…slightly crunchy, slightly chewy, very caramel-y ♥️ thank you!
Awesome. Worked out perfectly. I rolled some and sandwiched some. By far our household’s favorite cookie.
These did not turn out for me either. Butter separated and wouldn’t ever mix back in. Decided to roll with it, literally because the cookies didn’t flatten on their own in the oven. So, I just rolled them thin and baked off and they eventually turned out. Not sure what happened, but we still ate them. Crunchy and all.
Followed the recipe as it says but my cookies didn’t flatten in the oven at all so I pressed them down after 7 minutes and let them cook a few more, they came out soft and when hardens were more of a crumbly biscuit texture nothing like the texture shown :/
Same here
I have made these delicious cookies several times. At first I had a problem with getting round cookies too. I found by trial and error that taking a teaspoon measure of batter and using a Quarter teaspoon measure to get the batter out, I could kind of swirl the top to make the round shape on the silicone baking mat. Worked very well, and better than parchment too. I have never had a problem with the cookies though, always turned out great. Everyone loves them.
These came out beautifully and i try to make them for any event where i want something quick but looks and tastes EXTRA! <3
Hi,
I am able to make these with coconut butter or vegan butter?
Thank you!
Hi Farah, while we haven’t tried it in this particular recipe, you can try making these with a vegan butter substitute such as Earth Balance.
First time making these yummy cookies!
Very easy to make!
Thank you!!!
I am a very experienced baker who these days rarely has a baking faux pax but I did with these cookies. I followed Sally’s instructions exactly but once in the oven, the scant teaspoon of batter ran all over the place. I would not recommend this recipe.
I feel like an accomplished baker, having made these and seen them disappear within about 3 minutes of them cooling enough to be eaten! I used a combination of jaggery and sugar. Tasted phenomenal.
These taste like a rich, caramel, buttery goodness. I used dark brown sugar, but wish I had used light because these are super chewy (maybe under baked?) and actually too rich. My ‘dough’ came together but was swimming in butter the whole time. I thought they might be crisp like a florentine but they did not which is a bummer.
These were awesome! I used vegan butter and a oat milk. I can’t believe how easy they were to make. So good!
I made these and first of all, the batter tastes amazing. However, I was barely able to eat any of the cookies because they all stuck to the parchment paper. Can you bake them on just the baking pan with a little spray?
I read through the comments before starting the batter and followed the low and slow whisking method. My batter came together easily and the cookies baked just as described! I was even able to achieve rounded cookies with proper spacing and using a 1/2 tsp measuring spoon. Thank you for a great and easy recipe!
New family favourite, thank you sally!! They came out just perfect and your recipes are very reliable. I made them with milk last time since I didn’t have corn syrup on hand at the moment. Can we substitute glucose syrup to corn syrup??
Very quick and easy, loved it with the chocolate.
This worked spectacularly well with avocado oil plant butter, which was great for my mom, who is gluten and dairy free! I used Justin’s Hazelnut Almond Butter in place of Nutella.
I wish I had read the comments before I tried these today. I’ve made lace cookies plenty of times and knew what to expect but I didn’t expect a hard, crumbly batter. I even tried to just lay down little balls of dough but after baking they haven’t even spread. I’m going to see if I can salvage this somehow as I love, love, love lace cookies.
I made these last year at Christmas, and again this year, and they were by far the stand outs in my cookie boxes, according to friends and family.
They are unfortunately, somewhat temperamental though, and I had to make several batches to get it right, but once you do, they are worth the effort. Such amazing flavor and a special texture.
Sally, how did you get yours to come out so perfectly round though? I got a mixed bag of oblong shaped cookies. Still delicious, but I’d love them to be more symmetrical.
I made these for my holiday cookie box and they were one of my favorites! I think they taste like Almond Roca candy. I did need to bake mine longer to get a golden brown color — 11 minutes total, but that was the only issue I had with the recipe. Will make a batch again soon, just for me 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly, but it didn’t work out. The batter got really thick and the cookies wound up being chewy instead of crispy. Probably won’t try them again.
Tried them today. Spread like crazy and burnt fast too. Could be my old stove. Could not make nicely shaped cookies. I know what to do next time. Very little batter and watch like crazy. Very tasty.
Love these cookies. My friends all wanted the recipe. The cookies did not stay round but spread out but I just took the spatula and cut them on the cookie sheet. Otherwise they were a great holiday cookie that was different than the standard cookies.