Lace Cookies

A flourless oat cookie that spreads into a thin, brittle wafer as the sugar melts. Almost everything about the result depends on how much room the batter gets and how long you leave the cookies on the pan.

• There is no flour, and that is correctThe structure comes entirely from egg, sugar and oats. Do not add flour to thicken the batter; a stiff batter will not spread and you will get oat mounds instead of lace.
• Rolled oats means old-fashionedUse standard old-fashioned rolled oats. Quick oats give a denser, sandier cookie and instant oats, which are precooked and often sweetened, will not work at all.
• ShorteningThe original means hydrogenated vegetable shortening or lard. Melted butter substitutes one for one and tastes better, though it browns faster, so check at nine minutes.
• Oven400F is stated in the recipe itself. Bake on the middle rack and rotate the sheet once; the edges caramelize quickly and unevenly in a hot oven.
• SpacingTeaspoon-sized drops of a batter this thin can spread to two or three inches across. Allow generous room between them and bake only a few to a sheet.
• Greasing versus parchmentA well greased sheet is the period solution and it works, but parchment is more reliable with a batter this sugary.
• Cooling is the hingeLet the cookies set on the hot sheet for two to three minutes before lifting. Moved too soon they tear; left until stone cold they weld to the pan and have to be warmed briefly to release.
• Baking powderTwo teaspoons is a heavy hand for so small a batch and gives a faintly alkaline edge. A single teaspoon produces a cleaner-tasting, slightly crisper wafer if you want to adjust.
• StorageThese go soft within hours in humid weather. Cool completely, then keep them in a tin with a tight lid, layered with parchment rather than stacked.