These oatmeal lace cookies are thin and chewy with a crisp edge and buttery brown sugar flavor! For a thicker cookie, try my one bowl chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies next.
So, my plan was to get this post live yesterday, but then I came down with something and I could barely keep my eyes open, let alone stare at a computer screen.
To be fair, I’m pretty sure what I came down with was pure exhaustion.
My dog, Penny, doesn’t normally live with me full time, but her dad was deployed a couple months ago so she’s been staying with us. And it’s been… challenging.
Don’t get me wrong, I love that I get to spend so much time with her and I get all the puppy snuggles I could ever want and need. Puppy kisses, puppy snuggles, puppy smiles, the smell of puppy feet (shut up, I love that salty ‘ish).
But she’s had to go to the vet a couple times for various reasons which has been stressful for her (and us), and we have to keep a close eye on her and the cats because they don’t totally get along (no fighting or anything, but all she wants in the world is too give them kisses and they want nothing to do with it).
Then we had to get a dog walker (something she’s not used to), and she’s too big to fit in our bed with my husband, myself, and the cats – so sleep is hard to come by… etc.
I just feel bad that she’s had a rough time adjusting, and I’m sure the extreme heat and humidity isn’t helping matters because she’s been super itchy most of the time.
I just wish she could tell me what’s wrong, and I could explain things to her. And I wish I could tell her that daddy will be back, because I’m sure she’s missing him, too.
Damn dog tugging at my heart strings.
So, Penny stuff aside, work has been kinda crazy, wedding planning is… you know, a lot... and I just plain don’t do well with super hot/humid summer weather. It drains the life out of me. I need to move to Antartica between May and October each year, tbh.
It’s been hard for me to get into the kitchen and bake because my heart just hasn’t been in it. All my energy is going toward Penny and the wedding, and I’ve been struggling with that, but you know what? Those are the right priorities.
I still love this blog, I don’t plan on dropping it, but I can’t let it be a source of stress. This is stress baking… baking to relieve stress.
And speaking of dropping things, let’s talk about dropping this cookie batter into delicious piles on a baking sheet.
What are lace cookies?
Lace cookies are typically very thin, crisp cookies made with little to no flour. And while I enjoy them, I wanted these to be chewier.
You want these oatmeal lace cookies to be as thin as possible, but without letting there be gaps. They’re going to spread even more during baking, and be super thin cookies.
I’m serious. Really thin. If you weren’t expecting it, you might think you’ve done something wrong.
But you haven’t. You’ve done it perfectly. If you let them bake for about 8 minutes, they’ll be chewy with a crispy edge.
If you want them to be less chewy and more crisp overall, bake them another couple minutes. Totally up to your personal preference.
Stack them up high, and challenge yourself not to eat ten of them in one sitting. You’ll try to rationalize it because they’re so thin, but I promise you’ll regret it.
They’ll be delicious, for sure, but your stomach will not be a happy camper if you consume that much butter and sugar at once.
Why not add a little chocolate?
The next talking point: a chocolate drizzle.
I am a very big fan of these cookies with a light drizzle of chocolate on top. It adds a little somethin’ somethin’.
I thoroughly enjoy them without it, but there’s something about getting a little bit of chocolate in each bite that takes it up a notch for me.
Even if you’re not Team Chocolate, you can’t deny that it’s fun to fling a pastry bag around when you’re drizzling said chocolate onto cookies. It’s just fun.
Don’t at me, bro.
Since you’re only doing a handful of cookies on a baking sheet for each batch, you’re going to want to make plenty of room on your counters for them to cool.
As you can see in the picture below, my C-Rex (Cookie Rex, thank you very much) is gleefully awaiting the cooled cookies.
Chewy or crispy, chocolate or no chocolate, these cookies are one of my favorites.
After you’ve made this recipe, please consider coming back to share your experience with others by leaving a comment below with a star rating!
Oatmeal Lace Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour, can substitute 1:1 gluten free flour
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats, also known as old fashioned oats - can substitute gluten free oats
- Dark chocolate, for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter and brown sugar. Whisk frequently until just combined and thick.
- Remove pan from heat and add flour, vanilla and salt. Whisk to combine and let cool slightly for about 10 minutes.
- Add egg and whisk to combine.
- Add oats and whisk until well combined and all the oats are coated.
- Using a small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon), drop batter onto prepared baking sheets. Use the back of the scoop or a spoon to spread the batter into a thin layer.Note: You want to make sure you leave plenty of room for the cookies to spread while baking, so I never do more than 6 cookies per baking sheet to be on the safe side. You're going to need a fresh sheet of parchment paper each time, so just keep alternating baking sheets until you've used all the batter.
- One sheet at a time, bake for 8 minutes or until the edges have just started to turn a golden brown.
- Let cool completely on the parchment paper (but you can slide the baked cookies on the paper over to wire racks to cool completely while you reuse the baking sheet for your next batch).
- If desired, drizzle with melted dark chocolate and let set completely. Enjoy!
Amy Jo McCord
These cookies have a great flavor, however, even after 3 hours of cooling, they never got crisp. They have the texture of a fruit roll-up. Is this how they are supposed to be???
Leslie Kiszka
Correct, as I note in the description for these they’re intended to be chewy! Sorry that you felt it was only worth 2 stars, that’s never what I like to see.
Lyslee
Hi Leslie
Just made these for my husband , he wanted me to give you 2 thumbs up! He loves them!
These cookies are so easy to make, awesome cookies!
Leslie Kiszka
That’s so good to hear!
Lisa
Made these this morning. I loved them. I did not drizzle with chocolate, I decided they were rich enough without it. Would be great to make an ice cream sandwich with.
Leslie Kiszka
That sounds amazing!
Jeri
Do you use old fashion oats or quick cooking?
Leslie Kiszka
I note in the recipe card to use rolled oats (which are also known as old fashioned oats)! I’ve updated the name in the recipe card to include both so it’s not confusing.
Yvonne
Can I refrigerate the dough before baking ?
Leslie Kiszka
I wouldn’t recommend it – you want it to be a thin batter, and that would cause it to be more firm. You could try it, and then let it set out and come to room temperature before baking, but I’m not sure what your results would be.
Kasey
I am going to try some coconut in some, just cause it sounds good!
Linda Emerson
Hey, These are the cookies that I have been looking for! I cannot wait to make these cookies! They look amazing! So easy to make and I love that the ingredient list is simple .
Leslie Haasch
I’m so glad!
Heather
These look amazing! Super crisp and delicate but packed with so much texture and flavor. So easy to make and I love that the ingredient list is simple :)
Vanessa Vickery
These are the cookies that I have been looking for! I am looking for a cookie that I can make at the next cake & cookie stall at my kids school and these are going to be it!! They look amazing!! And PS your dog is so cute!
Kim @ Berly's Kitchen
I’ve been craving oatmeal cookies all weekend. These looked perfectly good and then I saw the chocolate drizzle. Now they’re even better!
Holly
Girllll! I cannot wait to make these cookies! They look amazing! They remind me of the oatmeal cookies my grandma would make and no one in the family has the recipe.
Claire | The Simple, Sweet Life
Hot, humid summers are the WORST as are pet troubles. :( Nothing breaks the heart quite like having to take them to the vet or seeing them in distress and not being able to let them know it’ll be ok. I feel ya girl! But these cookies look delish! I would totally stress bake AND stress eat the heck out of these.
Jenni LeBaron
Oatmeal cookies are my favorite so I’m glad to see them made in a new an interesting way I bet these lace cookies are supremely chewy in the best way! Bring on the milk!
Marek
Hej, szczerze polecam oferte biura projektowego Sztuka Ogrodowa z Warszawy. Bardzo podoba mi sie ich profesjonalizm.
U mnie zrobili super robote i jestem bardzo zadowolony z rezultatu (moge podeslac kilka zdjec mojego ogrodu)
link do ich strony: http://sztuka-ogrodowa.com.pl/
Sharon
Oh, boy, do these cookies look amazing! Simple, easy, classic. I will take a dozen right now.
Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen
These cookies look SO good! That drizzle has me seriously swooning over here. And C-Rex is fabulous. What a fun way to stash away your goodies :)
Jessie
I love this recipe chewy and crispy sounds like a great way for cookies to be! Saving this to try later and I cant wait!
Veena Azmanov
I LOVE lace cookies and I usually use nuts but oats sound so good. Saving this for later. Can’t wait to try it. Love how simple and easy the recipe is. Looks so pretty
Aleta
YUMMY!!! These cookies look AMAZING!! I love how thin and crispy they are and your photography is simply stunning! Also, I have a retriever cross, they sure are special aren’t they?
Karly
These cookies look so delicious! Love that they are crispy and chewy at the same time. My fav!
Anne
These cookies look so good! I want one of them now. That dog is so cute, I can see how he pulls at your heart strings.