Lacey Cookies

​Long gone are the days that I would spend hours pouring over cookbooks in search of new recipes.  Now I turn to google to search out recipes.  My ipad is normally set up on the kitchen counter while I cook so that I can get instant answers to any pressing culinary questions.  (Trust me, I have a lot of questions.)


I have a friend who really likes the Lacey Cookies from Trader Joe's so when his birthday rolled around earlier this month, I turned to the internet in search of a Lacey Cookie Recipe.  (You can find a recipe for almost anything on the internet.)  I found a website called myjerusalemkitchen.com and she claimed to have recreated these delicate cookies in her own kitchen.  I didn't really have anything to lose so I jumped right in and started my own batch of Lacey Cookies.

Lacey Cookies
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c almonds; coarsely ground
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp milk 
1/4 c honey
1/2 c dark chocolate (for dipping)

​Bring the butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, and honey to a boil, stirring continuously.

Mix the flour, almonds and cinnamon. 

Once it reaches a rolling boil, wait one minute and then remove from the heat and add dry ingredients slowly.

Cool 20 minutes.  ​ Drop teaspoonfuls of batter onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.  

​Bake 6-8 minutes in a 350 oven. If you want them more like toffee brittle leave them in on the longer end. I like mine slightly chewy in the center and crispy on the outside.

​Immediately remove the parchment paper from the tray and let them cool on the counter.

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​After about three-five more minutes, you’ll be able to remove them from the parchment paper without a problem. Any sooner and they’ll still be soft and will break.

Once the cookies are cool, melt dark chocolate.  I spooned chocolate onto the flat sides of my lacey cookies.

​I put the cookies in the refrigerator to set the chocolate quickly.  ​Once the chocolate was set, I could move the cookies to a platter.

​Some of the chocolate actually came through the top to make a deliciously, gooey and chocolatey praline cookie.  

​​I packaged my cookies up into clear plastic containers to deliver as a birthday gift.

My final evaluation of these Lacey Cookies: good but could use some improvements.  First of all, I think I will leave out the orange zest when I make them again.  That proved to be more of a distraction from the flavor than a bonus.   I also think that I would bake my cookies a little longer next time.  The cookies were a little soft (An issue that could be remedied by storing them in the freezer.) instead of crispy like their Trader Joe's counterparts.  By tweaking those two simple things, I think this recipe could produce superb cookies that would rival the Trader Joe's Lacey Cookies.  

Ciao!

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