Delicate, crunchy, and nutty, these almond lace cookies are delicious alongside an afternoon cup of tea or coffee.
If you tried my raspberry almond coffee cake, you might remember that I got that recipe from a discarded recipe box that Taylor, our daughter’s birth mom, found at work.
This lace cookie recipe is another winner from that once-beloved recipe box.
I made a few minor tweaks to the recipe, but it remains pretty true to the original recipe that the lady who owned the recipe box stored way for safe keeping.
These delicate lace cookies are an unexpected delight. They’re light and crispy and an absolute dream alongside a cup of coffee or an afternoon chai.
What are lace cookies?
Lace cookies are quite different from what most of us probably think of when we think of a “traditional” cookie. Instead of being thick and chewy or even soft and cakey, lace cookies are wafer thin and crispy.
If you hold them up to the light, the light will shine through them. They look a bit like lace – hence the name!
In addition to butter and sugar, lace cookies can contain oats or nuts and other flavorings. They typically have no or very little flour in them, making them a great gluten-free option for anyone with a gluten allergy or sensitivity.
Florentine cookies are a popular type of lace cookies that contain fruit and nuts and have chocolate on the bottom.
My almond lace cookies have both oats and almonds in them. They are crispy, nutty, buttery, and the oats add a bit of chewiness to them as well.
The high amount of sugar compared to flour also means that the cookies have a slight caramel note to them, which I absolutely love alongside the nuts and oats.
I think these elegant little cookies are a great way to treat yourself on a random Thursday afternoon. But they would be equally welcome on a Christmas cookie tray, at a bridal or baby shower, or at a special brunch alongside raspberry linzer cookies or no-chill sugar cookies.
How to make these almond lace cookies
Making lace cookies might be a new experience, even for a seasoned cookie baker, because the dough is not at all like a traditional cookie dough. In fact, it’s more like a batter!
But don’t be intimidated – these are still easy to make. Let’s walk through how to make them.
Ingredients you’ll need
For these lace cookies, you will need:
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup melted unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup sliced or slivered almonds
Odds are good that you already have most of these ingredients on hand, if not all of them. Which means you can whip up these cookies any time!
I always recommend using a high-quality vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey has always been my personal favorite), but I especially recommend it for this recipe. I find that the vanilla really makes a difference in these cookies.
Same goes for almond extract. You won’t need a lot, but it just helps boost that almond flavor in these cookies.
As for the nuts, I recommend using slivered or sliced almonds. If you only have whole almonds on hand, you will need to finely chop them in order to maintain the lacy texture we want in this recipe.
Making these cookies
To make the batter for my lace cookies, start by combining the oats, sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, then add the melted butter, vanilla, and almond extract. Whisk to combine.
Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Once mixed, stir in the almonds.
Forget your usual cookie scoop for this recipe. Lace cookies are so thin, each cookie only requires a teaspoon of batter. Yes, just a teaspoon!
Drop teaspoonfuls of the batter onto baking sheets that have been lined with parchment or silicone baking mats. Make sure the spoonfuls are about 4 inches apart.
Use the back of the measuring spoon to slightly flatten the mounds of batter. Keep in mind that the rounder the little batter mounds are now, the rounder the baked cookies will be.
Bake the lace cookies for 13-15 minutes, or until the sugar has stopped bubbling and the edges are golden brown.
Now let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-7 minutes. They should be nearly cool before you attempt to lift them off, otherwise they will simply fall apart.
Gently peel the cookies off of the parchment or silicone mat and place them on a wire rack to finish cooling.
Storage tips
Store almond lace cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Because they are thin and crisp instead of soft or chewy, they will keep for well over a week.
If you want to freeze them, be careful. This type of cookie is so close to being candy (think peanut brittle) that they will get soft and weird if they are exposed to too much humidity.
You can freeze them in an airtight container with parchment separating layers of the cookies for 2-3 months. Thaw them at room temperature on a low-humidity day; a hot, humid day will cause condensation on the cookies that will make them soft.
Recipe FAQs
Almond Lace Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup sliced or slivered almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine oats, sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg slightly with a whisk. Add the melted butter, vanilla, and almond extract and whisk thoroughly to combine.
- Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the almonds.
- Drop the cookie batter by teaspoonfuls about 4 inches apart. Use the back of the teaspoon to slightly flatten the mounds of batter. The more round the batter mounds are now, the more round the final cookies will be.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the sugar has stopped bubbling and the edges are golden brown.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5-7 minutes; they should be nearly cool. Gently peel the cookies off the parchment and place on a wire rack to finish cooling.