Chocolate Oatmeal Lace Cookies (GF & Milk Free)

I’ve loved these cookies for years. Though only five ingredients (six with the chocolate), they are interesting and addictive. They just happen to be gluten and milk free. I sometimes add spices like cinnamon to them to vary them up. They are thin, crisp, and almost melt-in-your-mouth.

These cookies are delicious on their own, but the chocolate takes them to another level. Having tried it out, I’m not sure I can go back. And if you follow my 4 year old’s lead, use them to bring bites of ice cream into your mouth. You won’t regret it!

chocolate oatmeal lace cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups oats*

• 1 stick butter, melted

• 1 cup brown sugar (dark would bring the most flavor, but light works too)

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• 8-10oz chocolate chips (use milk free if desired)

Directions:

1. Set rack in middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350.

2. Line a baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper.

3. Mix all the ingredients together, making sure everything is well mixed and dispersed. The oatmeal might clump together and stay dry, so make sure to work everything in so it is evenly moistened. (It won’t come together like a normal dough. It will be crumbly, basically looking like moist oats.)

4. Dollop teaspoon amounts of dough onto the prepared baking pan. Make sure to leave 3-4inches between each dollop. Don’t fret if it gets a little messy and crumbs get out of place. Just nudge them back to their spot and gently press and squeeze together to keep as contained as possible.

5. Then, using a small square of parchment and heavy bottomed drinking glass, press each dollop into a flat circle. (You might be able to use your hands or the spoon to get a mostly flattened circle, but the parchment and glass worked so well, I highly recommend it.) The thinner you get the cookies now, the more crisp and wafer like they will end up.

6. Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes, rotating halfway through (my oven runs a little cold, and 12 min was perfect). Cookies should spread out and get nicely browned around the edges.

7. Allow cookies to cool for at least 2 minutes on the pan. You can let them cool completely on the pan, but if you want to free it up sooner, carefully slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a cooling rack, making sure not to snap any. Allow cookies to cool completely before moving on to the chocolate.

8. Using a double boiler or a small saucepan and a heatproof bowl which can rest over the saucepan without touching the water, melt chocolate chips.

9. Once the chocolate is melted, take a fully cooled cookie and spread and smear the chocolate on the bottom. A little can go a long way if you scrape the chocolate a little to bring to all the edges. Just be careful! If you apply too much pressure, the cookies can crumble — they are brittle. Continue with the remaining cookies.

10. Place cookies bottom side up until the chocolate sets. Once set, the cookies can be stacked. Enjoy!

Notes:

• The original recipe says not to use instant oats. But I did in the pictures here and had no problem using them. I think the dough was a bit thicker perhaps, as the instant oats absorb the butter more quickly, but they tasted just as delicious and didn’t bake up much differently than when I have used rolled oats. So use whichever you have on hand!

Adapted from this recipe.

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