Lace Cookies

For tomorrow's Purim Carnival bake sale at the temple, I decided to revisit a cookie recipe that I hadn't made in a good 15–20 years. This old favorite comes from my Auntie Phyllis, who is an excellent baker. The result is a very impressive-looking and delicious-tasting cookie.

Lace Cookies

1 cup quick oats
1 cup sugar
1 stick (¼ lb.) unsalted butter, melted
½ tsp salt
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange juice (What difference could such a small amount of orange juice possibly make? I have no idea, but don't look at me to start tampering with this recipe.)
1 egg, lightly beaten
about 6 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks

Heat oven to 350°. Line cookie sheets with foil. (This recipe is from my pre-Silpat/pre-parchment days, but I still think foil is the way to go here.)

In a mixing bowl, with a wooden spoon, combine all the ingredients except the chocolate.

Put ½-teaspoon dollops of dough/batter on sheets, spaced about 1½ inches apart. I know this seems like a ridiculously small amount, but they spread out completely flat. Trust me, if you use more than ½ tsp, you will not get the right texture! It's tedious, because you'll end up with about 100–120 cookie halves, but don't give in to the temptation to make them bigger. Or, if you do, don't blame me when they don't come out right.

Bake the cookies for 8–10 minutes, or until golden brown. Lift the foil off the sheet and place on a rack to cool. Make sure it's flat, because if the cookies are slightly curled or bent, they'll harden into that shape and won't make nice snug sandwiches. Once they're cool, peel the cookies off the foil and put them on a plate. They're kind of delicate, so handle them with care.

Unless you have lots of cookie sheets and two ovens, you will probably need to bake them in batches, but don't try to reuse the foil—once it's no longer shiny, it's hard to peel the cookies off. Here's what the cookie halves look like:

Melt the chocolate in the microwave and stir until smooth. Spread the chocolate thinly on the shiny side of a cookie, and sandwich it together against the shiny side of another cookie. This is a good time to enlist the kids' help. (And then clean your entire kitchen, which will be covered in melted chocolate.)

I told the kids that they could eat any burnt or ugly or horribly misshapen cookies that would be too inferior to bring to the temple, and suddenly they turned into perfectionists. We ended up with about 60 sandwich cookies to sell tomorrow, and who knows how many ended up in my kids' tummies.

Comments

[Margaret]

Oh, my, anything with oats and chocolate is my downfall. The photo with the cookie and smeared chocolate makes my mouth water!

[Rachel Kagno]

Those look awesome! I gotta try those (although our temple is conservative and will NOT allow any food item to be assembled at home for fear that it isn't kosher!) But I can always make these at home for the kids...thanks Karen...and Auntie Phyllis!

[Karen]

I grew up in a conservative temple, and I am still not used to this reform temple, even though we've been members for about 5 years already. Non-kosher food, guitar-playing on the bima, rabbi who drives to shul on shabbos ... it's all very new to me!

[scott]

That looks like nutella. I bet it would be good with that.

[Karen]

I bet you're right. They did ask for nut-free baked goods for the bake sale, though, because of those ubiquitous nut allergies.

[Generic Humanoid]

I thought lace cookies were supposed to be "curled" over a rolling pin after being baked....or am I thinking of a different cookie?

[Karen]

Nope, that's a different cookie. You can't make a sandwich unless they're flat. (Compare the Pepperidge Farm "Brussels" to the "Pirouette.")

[Charlestown Culinary]

Perhaps we should plan a potluck. An all-dessert theme would be OK :)

[Steve]

Those sure bring back memories! I may need to make some this weekend...