These oatmeal lace cookies are a delicate, crispy cookie, that almost looks like piece of lace. The cookies are thin, crispy, buttery, and toffee flavored. They’re perfect when you want to impress someone.
These oatmeal lace cookies can seem complicated, but they’re actually really easy to make. You’ll melt together brown sugar and butter, add in flour, and egg, and oats to make a thin cookie batter. The cookies then spread and caramelize in the oven, and as the caramel spreads it creates pockets around the oats, giving the cookies their lacey look, and crunchy texture.
Why make these cookies
- Elegant Appearance – The cookies are beautiful with their lacy, intricate pattern
- Crispy Texture – The cookies have crispy edges, and a slightly chewy center. (If you want them less crispy you can bake them for 30 seconds to 1 minute less, they bake fast!)
- Simple Ingredients – Made with just 7 ingredients, that you probably have on hand RIGHT NOW!
Ingredients Needed
- brown sugar – you can also make these with granulated sugar, but I love the caramelly flavor the brown sugar gives
- unsalted butter – gives the cookies their crispy texture, if you use salted butter – cut the added salt completely.
- all purpose flour – adds a little structure to the cookies
- vanilla extract – adds a little vanilla flavor
- salt – balances the flavor
- egg – helps bind everything together
- old fashioned oats – you can also use quick oats, or thick rolled oats (not steel cut)
How to make Oatmeal Lace Cookies
Step 1: Melt butter and brown sugar. Add the brown sugar and butter to a medium sauce pan over medium high heat and stir together until the butter is totally melted and you have a brown caramel like paste.
Step 2: Add in the flour, vanilla, and salt and stir them into the batter. Let the batter sit and cool for about 10 minutes.
Step 3: Add in the remaining ingredients. Stir in the egg until just combined. Then stir the oats into the mixture until they’re mixed evenly into the mixture.
Step 4: Shape the cookies. Spoon about a scant Tablespoon of the mixture (this means not quite a Tablespoon, you want between 2 and 3 teaspoons) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use the back of a spoon to spread the mixture into an even layer about double in size, and to keep the oats from clumping. The cookies will continue to spread, so keep them another 2 to 3 inches apart after spreading.
Step 5: Bake the cookies. Bake the cookies until the edges start to turn a brown color for crispy cookies. Keep them a little more golden brown if you want chewier cookies.
Tips and Tricks:
- Watch the cookies closely – The cookies bake quickly and can burn quickly. Keep a close eye them after about 4.5 to 5 minutes, because they can quickly darken more than you’d like in the remaining time.
- Spread the batter – If you pile the cookie batter in spoonfuls the centers of the cookies will be thicker than the edges, and they won’t cook evenly, or be crispy throughout, so we want to distribute the oats and batter evenly so they cook evenly in the oven.
- Leave space – Leave plenty of space between the cookies. They will continue to spread even more in the oven, and double in width. You need another 2 to 3 inches between the cookie batter.
- Flavors – Add a pinch of cinnamon, or a dash of almond extract, to add different flavors to the cookies.
- Add chocolate – Melt a little chocolate in 20 second increments in the microwave and spread a small spoonful on the bottom of one of the cookies. Top with another cookie to seal and make little sandwiches.
Storage Instructions
Cool the cookies to room temperature, then you can store them in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Layer the cookies between parchment paper to keep them from sticking together.
These oatmeal lace cookies taste like toffee, and butter, and have such a nice crispy flavor in every bite. They’re surprisingly easy to make and you’ll want to make them for your cookie exchange parties, because they’ll impress everyone!
More Cookie Recipes
If you try these Oatmeal Lace Cookies, please leave a 🌟 rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Oatmeal Lace Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 TBS all purpose flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, or silicone baking mats.
- Add the brown sugar and butter to a medium sauce pan, and heat over medium heat, stirring often until the butter is melted, and the mixture is a thick caramel paste. 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- Remove from the heat and stir in the flour, vanilla, and salt. 2 TBS all purpose flour, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp salt
- Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to cool.
- Add in the egg, and stir it until just combined. 1 large egg
- Add in the oats and stir them into the mixture evenly. 1 cup old fashioned oats
- Scoop the batter in 2 teaspoon portions onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie to allow them to spread.
- Spread the batter out into a thin layer using the back of your spoon.
- Bake the cookies for 5 to 8 minutes, until the edges of the cookies turn a dark golden brown color.
- Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Watch the cookies closely – The cookies bake quickly and can burn quickly. Keep a close eye them after about 4.5 to 5 minutes, because they can quickly darken more than you’d like in the remaining time.
- Spread the batter – If you pile the cookie batter in spoonfuls the centers of the cookies will be thicker than the edges, and they won’t cook evenly, or be crispy throughout, so we want to distribute the oats and batter evenly so they cook evenly in the oven.
- Leave space – Leave plenty of space between the cookies. They will continue to spread even more in the oven, and double in width. You need another 2 to 3 inches between the cookie batter.
- Flavors – Add a pinch of cinnamon, or a dash of almond extract, to add different flavors to the cookies.
- Add chocolate – Melt a little chocolate in 20 second increments in the microwave and spread a small spoonful on the bottom of one of the cookies. Top with another cookie to seal and make little sandwiches.
All this business of butter being not the same? It really matters with the cookies. I could see right away, as I cooked butter and sugar together that there was lots of water from the butter. It comes to the surface. So I cooked the mixture quite awhile to reduce the moisture and thought I had it. But I should have kept going longer. Additionally, the oats remained quite hard. I cooked the cookies about 8 minutes to start, saw they were still to soft and added another couple of minutes. Long story short, good flavor, soft , sticky cookies.