TOPPINGS

• block caramel, cut into 1/4″ pieces*
• chopped toasted almonds + 1 teaspoon fleur de sel or other coarse/flaky salt; OR  chopped smoked almonds; OR very crisp bacon, crumbled
• *Or substitute prepared caramel sauce

The cookie base is simple with a twist.  The brown sugar and the vanilla butternut flavor kick it up a notch from a basic sugar cookie.  The base is made and scooped by teaspoonful into prepared mini muffin pans.  Using a small cookie scoop gives you uniformly sized cookies.  The recipe says that the yield is three dozen cookies.  I got another half-dozen, I believe.

The cookie base is baked at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  They are then removed from the oven, topped with the caramel squares, and placed back in the oven for another 1-2 minutes, just long enough for the caramel to melt slightly.  The cookies are then removed from the oven and topped with the ingredient of your choice.  I used toasted almonds.  I found it helpful to gently press the almonds into the soft caramel.

That’s it!

The most tedious part about the making of these cookies is the preparation of the toppings.  I used individually wrapped caramel squares rather than the optional caramel sauce.  I cut each square into quarters and used approximately three quarters on each cookie.  The almonds also had to be toasted  I toasted them in the same 375 degree oven in which the cookies baked for about 8 minutes.  Watch them carefully because they will go from nicely toasted to burnt in the blink of an eye!

As I said, these are “cookie bites” so make a nice addition to a holiday party table or as a contribution to a cookie swap.  Since they are small, you’ll have room to try all of the holiday goodies!

If any of you try them with the crumbled bacon topping, please share your thoughts!

Happy baking!

from Tracey G.

Lace Cookies from King Arthur Flour

After reading the recipe Kris chose, it made me chuckle that, without comparing notes first, we both chose recipes with the “caramel influence”! These Lace Cookies are addicting – if you love that toffee-like caramelly flavor profile, prepare to fall in love with a cookie!

First thing Jeremy said when he saw what I was making was, “Oh! Lace Cookies! My grandma used to make those and I love them!”. So, I guess I was ahead of the game in the “hope they like it” department!

I’ve never made them and I now find that a mystery, why on Earth had I not tried these before?!? They are so easy it’s crazy! The only “issue” you may have is them sticking – but after reading some comments on the recipe on KAF’s website, I found the way around that, more on that in a bit…

The ingredients are things I always have around and is a pretty short list:

• Flour
• Rolled Oats
• Light Brown Sugar (I used dark as that’s all I ever buy)
• Salt
• Butter (no substitutions on this one)
• Egg
• Vanilla

That’s it. Putting it together is just as easy. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl – flour, brown sugar, salt & oats. Melt the butter and mix with the dry ingredients. In a small bowl (I used a 2-cup liquid measuring cup), beat the egg with the vanilla and incorporate into the butter/sugar/flour/oat mixture. You’re now ready to bake! I also mixed it all up by hand – no mixer required.

Now, I used my teaspoon-sized cookie scoop I got from KAF. I love the scoops they carry, I’ve slowly built my collection of the scone, tablespoon and teaspoon scoops, and they’ve been awesome. Anyway, I used my scoop to dish-out my cookies, and this is where you have to use a little trial-and-error. They REALLY spread out as they bake. I started with what looked like 6 lonely little scoops on my parchment-covered cookie sheet. As it turned out, for the size of my cookies I’d scooped, this was perfect.

I also played around with baking times. The recipe states 5-7 minutes depending on the size of your cookies. I tried both, and 5 minutes for mine were still a bit too gooey, and 7 was just “pretty good”. I did have a bit of help here – Jeremy told me what his grandma’s were like, that they were rather crispy, so I started playing with baking times. We both loved the 9-10 minute range. So this is something you can customize to your preferences. I’m glad I had some “inside information” though – because “just” crispy is really yummy, very toffee-like and addicting!

Now, the biggest complaint I’d read was getting them off the parchment, that they were frustratingly sticky – but I followed the advice of one of the reviews and had ZERO issues! The reviewer recommended using the parchment on the sheet, then, when they come out of the oven, slide the whole piece of parchment onto the counter (or rack I suppose!) and let them sit for a bit. Once they’d cooled slightly on the counter they came off the parchment easily! It was great – worked perfectly. The only downside I could find in the baking of these, is that, by only getting 6 at a time per sheet, it took some time to get through the dough, and get it all baked off. But it’s so easy it wasn’t a hardship at all!

I can say that these Lace Cookies have earned a spot in my book and will be a favorite from now on!!!