These thin and crispy Lace Cookies are an easy dessert, perfect for your Christmas cookie tray. They’re sweet, buttery caramels in crispy cookie form!
Every bite of a lace cookie is like eating crispy cooked caramel. They’re so good and addicting for caramel fans! I just love how thin and dainty they are. This light dessert is perfect for those nights when you’re still full from dinner but want something sweet.
Lace cookies are made with simple ingredients – butter, sugar and few other things that vary depending on the recipe. This means you can make them on a whim without having to run to the grocery store. Better yet, they come together in half an hour. You seriously have to try these sweet caramel crisps!
A lace cookie is a very thin, crispy cookie that gets its name from its see-through, lace-like appearance. Some recipes use oats or chopped almonds. This one sticks with just flour, but it uses a mix of all-purpose and almond flour.
Combining the two flours resulted in the best lace cookies. Using only all-purpose flour produced a thinner cookie that lacked texture and flavor. Using all almond flour gave inconsistent spreading results upon baking. The two mixed together were just right!
Recipe Ingredients
The ingredient lineup for this recipe couldn’t be simpler. Everything you need is probably already stocked in your kitchen!
- Unsalted Butter
- Packed Brown Sugar: Don’t use regular granulated sugar – it’ll brown, but it really lacks flavor. If you want that caramel-y taste, you need the brown sugar.
- Milk: You could also use corn syrup, if desired. I made these cookies with both and didn’t notice a difference between them.
- Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour
- Almond Flour
- Salt
This recipe is refreshingly easy. All you need to do is make your batter over the stove, bake the cookies for up to 10 minutes and let them cool.
- Prepare for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Melt Butter & Sugar: In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and milk. Cook over low heat, stirring regularly, until butter and sugar have melted.
- Bring to Boil: Once the butter and sugar are melted, turn the heat up to medium and cook the mixture just until it begins to boil.
- Remove From Heat: Remove the mixture from the heat and add in the vanilla extract, flours and salt, stirring until completely combined.
- Let Sit: Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then drop by 1 1/2 teaspoons (half a tablespoon) onto the prepared cookie sheet. Space the cookies about 2-3 inches apart. They will spread quite a bit in the oven. The cookie dough mixture will thicken as it cools, but that won’t affect the outcome of the cookies.
- Bake: Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden in color. Keep an eye on them toward the end of baking because they can burn quickly.
- Let Cool: Allow the cookies to cool for 3-4 minutes, or until they’re firm enough to move, then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Don’t Make the Cookies Too Big: These cookies will spread out to become super thin as they bake, so be sure not to use more than 1 1/2 teaspoons of batter per cookie.
- Don’t Over Bake: Watch your cookies carefully after they’ve been baking for 5 or 6 minutes. Because they’re so thin, they’ll burn very quickly if you leave them in the oven for too long. Once they turn a nice golden color, they’re good to go.
- Use Real Butter: Avoid using margarine or another butter substitute for lace cookies. The butter is what gives them their thin, crisp texture.
- Store in an airtight container: These cookies are best when fresh, but stay crisp and delicious for days. Just be sure to store them in an air tight container or they’ll soften.
Store your leftover lace cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll stay fresh and crispy for up to a week. Let the cookies cool completely before storing them.
These cookies are freezer-friendly, too! Just freeze them in an airtight container, and they’ll last for up to 3 months. If you’d like, you can thaw them in the fridge and bring them to room temperature on the counter before serving.
Print
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 40
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These thin and crispy Lace Cookies are a quick and easy treat made with just 7 ingredients. They’re sweet, buttery caramels in crispy cookie form!
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp (84g) unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup (150g) packed brown sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (43g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (50g) almond flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and milk. Cook over low heat, stirring regularly, until butter and sugar have melted.
- Once butter and sugar are melted, turn heat up to medium and cook mixture just until it begins to boil.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla extract, flours and salt, stirring until completely combined.
- Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then drop by 1 1/2 teaspoons (half a tablespoon) onto prepared cookie sheet. Space cookies about 2-3 inches apart. The cookies will spread quite a bit in the oven. The cookie dough mixture will thicken as it cools, but that won’t affect the outcome of the cookies.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden in color. Keep an eye on them towards the end of baking because they can burn quickly.
- Allow cookies to cool for 3-4 minutes or until they are firm enough to move, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Notes
Store lace cookies in an airtight container. They should stay fresh and crispy for 5-7 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 40
- Sugar: 3.3 g
- Sodium: 16.1 mg
- Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 4.4 g
- Protein: 0.4 g
- Cholesterol: 4.6 mg
Keywords: lace cookies, oatmeal lace cookies, lace cookies recipe, caramel cookies, crispy oatmeal cookies, crispy cookies, easy cookie recipes, easy christmas cookies
Categories
- These fun and vibrant Grinch Cookies are a must-make for the holiday season!
- My Soft Gingerbread Cookie Recipe is fail-proof and so classic for Christmas.
- These Reindeer Cookie Balls are so easy, festive and delicious!
- I can’t help but get into the Christmas spirit when I make these chewy Gingerbread Cookies with Eggnog Icing.
More Caramel Recipes to Try:
This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please read my disclosure policy.
The have become “crack” cookies with my family and friends. Making these for the 3rd time since the holidays.
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear that!
Really taste and texture great. Mine just came out very buttery (greasy) on the bottoms, which is why I didn’t end up coating them with chocolate, like I wanted to. Is this normal? Can I use less butter in the recipe?
★★★★★
If I remember correctly, they were a little buttery, but not incredibly so and you could definitely still shape or dip them in chocolate. Using less butter would result in them spreading differently.
Love all your recipes! I have a nut allergy.
Love all your recipes! I have a nut allergy. Can I substitute more regular flour for the almond?
I actually tested that and talked about it in the post. I found that using all all-purpose flour made the cookies thinner and they didn’t have quite as much flavor. But you could certainly try it.
hey linsday! hopw you are all okay.
is your baby seriously over due because you said on the new addition post that it was due in early november??
She was over due, actually. But she was born almost 4 weeks ago and is very healthy and well. I’ve been waiting on our newborn photos to be able to share and then this past week I ended up in the ER with pneumonia and a plural effusion, so I’ve been recovering. I hope to have a post up later this week. Thanks for asking!
So a few things…
1. I LOVED the taste of this batter!
2. I used Anthony’s unblanched almond flour. Do not recommend doing this. Lol super hard to tell when they were golden brown, and it gave it a mealy texture (which I didn’t mind! It got me thinking of russian tea cakes…..) but I don’t think that texture was intended in this recipe.
3. I also used coconut milk, instead of regular. Not sure if that could have contributed to the following issues I had. 🤔
4. I just greased the pan with spray grease, like Pam. First pan I think was in the oven a little too long, and not greased enough. They ended up being a little too crunchy, and stuck horribly! And I only let them cool about 3 minutes before trying to move.
5. Second and third pan, I heavily greased, and didn’t bake as long. They still stuck, but not as bad. When I tried to transfer them, they ended up looking kind of scrunched. Lol I also may have greased them a little too much, as I could taste the Pam. 😂
Sooo…I’m guessing the parchment paper or silicone mat recommended, is a necessity for this. Lol
I would definitely try these again, using blanched almond flour, and parchment paper!!
★★★★
Yes, because of the nature of these cookies, you’ll need something nonstick, like parchment paper or a silicone mat.
★★★★★
Great recipe to have on hand when emergency cookie requests are made by grands! Are these also able to be rolled up and then cooled in order to make a cigar shape to dip?
★★★★★
Yes, you should be able to roll them just fine.
Can you use dark brown sugar?
I didn’t test dark brown sugar, but I would guess it’d be fine.
Hi,
How much is 6 tbsps butter in grams ?
Also can you put a video of dropping the cookies it will be easier to understand if possible
Thanks
Mayanka
★★★★
Can I use almond milk in the Lace cookies rather than regular milk? Thank you
I didn’t test that, so I’m not sure.