#19 Lace Cookies 1957

First batch (top) with rounded edges due to parchment;
second batch with fading edges baked on buttered sheet.

I remember making lace cookies as a teenager. Probably got the recipe from the newspaper. They consisted of brown sugar and butter. I swear that's all. OK, maybe something else--it didn't really matter what else. I was in love with the cookies that bubbled in a hot oven and spread out on the cookie sheet, creating see-through holes in a crisp wafer that trailed to nothing at the edges.

They were the most "different" cookies I'd seen in my young life. Delicate and not so good for storing on top of each other (they'd break or stick together), they'd have to be consumed in a fantasy binge with milk or ice cream.

Based on the photo, I expected the Gourmet Lace Cookie recipe to tempt me to the same kind of binge. I expected the batter to spread out and bubble No such luck. Instead, these spread into flat cookies with rounded edges and no bubble holes.

Second batch, with thin edges, but bubbles only on top.

The good news is that like the cookies of my youth, they melted in the mouth. The almonds provide a subtle nutty flavor and texture. Just not as pretty going in.

I suspected my parchment paper was to blame for the shape and textural differences and tried a batch on a buttered cookie sheet. This time, they spread out to nothing at the edges, as expected, but still no bubbly lace texture.

Last batch, with break-apart edges, but no
see-through bubbles.

I floated yet another hypothesis. Maybe my insulated cookie sheet did not allow the cookies to heat to the bubbling point. I still didn't use a thin cookie sheet. I heated the oven a bit hotter and put the insulated cookie sheet on the bottom oven rack. This time, the edges broke apart, but the cookie centers barely made bubbly holes on top, not all the way through the cookie. Do I really have to go back to an old, thin cookie sheet?

The recipe is here. If you search the web for lace cookies, you may not find many photos of a texture similar to the one in the Gourmet Cookie Book (book photo here). In the first 3 pages of my Google search, only a few photos were posted, and only one of those approached a lacy texture.

Comments

#33 Almond Bolas (Portuguese Almond Cookies) 1975

Three almond balls ( bolas ) in a row. "This one is good," my sister-in-law Jill told me. She tried not to express too much surprise, but I have regaled her with too many tales of failed cookies. And forced her to eat a few duds. I was glad this one made the grade. I liked it, too. You might think I am a hopeless romantic to fall for another almond cookie. (Italy, almond cookies. Almond cookies, Italy.) The fact is every country that can grow almonds has its special recipes for almond cookies. Portugal is no exception. The ground blanched almonds combine with dry bread crumbs, then the usual sugar, egg whites and almond extract. The dry bread crumbs are key. When the cookies are fresh from the oven, the bread crumbs add a perfect crunch to their rustic, nutty texture. Holes in the center ready for filling. These cookies don't "drop." You roll them in a ball ( bola ) and press a hole in the center, as for jelly-filled thumbprint cookies. Egg yolk

#17 Brazil Nut Crescents 1958

Light as a feather, these cookies showcase the Brazil nut. After my fiasco of many ingredients (the Oatmeal Molasses Cookies seem so last month), I wondered if only four ingredients would be enough to make a decent attempt at a cookie. I creamed the butter, added sugar, flour and finely chopped Brazil nuts, as instructed. I kneaded the dough on a floured surface a bit, and formed my 2-inch cylinder of dough. The ridged crescent shapes emerge when you cut off each slice. As you cut, each round compresses into more of an oval or square. Help it shape by giving it a pat on top. Then, poke a finger sideways into the middle of each slice, and pull the ends toward you to form the crescents. Cookie rounds flatten as you slice them. I expected a firm cookie, like the Mexican Wedding Cakes I've made. But these are lighter. When I bit in, they crumbled like an abandoned sand castle. OK, edible sand castle. I wondered how they had stayed together until then. The texture difference c

#21 Cornetti 1989

First, the texture. These crescent-shaped darlings came closest to the crisp-outside, soft-inside of the almond cookies I've been craving. The difference with these is their distinct orange flavor, from chopped, candied orange peel, and the cup of white cornmeal that adds a gritty crunch to each bite. Cornetti, dusted with powdered sugar. These firm, hearty cookies, with a ground almond base, are my first real almond cookie success. They are not the same as any cookie I tasted in Italy; I have yet to duplicate those bakery cookies. These stand on their own, apart from the rest, and they are every bit as good. After one minute in boiling water, almonds are ready to have skins removed. Blanching almonds. Orange peels simmering in sugar syrup. The bad news is the labor required, especially if you begin with almonds that have their skins. Although an easy process of blanching in hot water allows the skins to be removed for an all-white dough, by the time I was done,

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