Lace Cookies With Gooey Center Recipes

GRANDMA'S LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl in a microwave. Add sugar and stir to combine. Add beaten egg and mix well. Stir in oats, flour, vanilla extract, salt, and baking powder.
• Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are golden brown, about 8 minutes. Let cool completely before removing cookies from foil.

LACE COOKIES WITH ORANGE-MASCARPONE FILLING AND RASPBERRIES

Steps:

• For the Lace Cookies:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line an 18 by 12-inch baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Place the pecans and sugar in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until the nuts are coarsely chopped. Add the butter, flour, molasses, cream, and vanilla and process until well mixed and the nuts are finely chopped. Transfer the dough to a bowl.
• Place heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough on the foil-lined baking sheet, spacing the cookies far apart and leaving lots of room to expand¿makes only 6 cookies at a time.
• Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until bubbly all over and golden brown. Watch the cookies carefully, as they turn from brown to burned very quickly; the baking time may need to be adjusted according to your oven. Remove from the oven and place, still on the foil, on a cake rack to cool completely. Continue to bake the cookies in batches until all the dough is used. (Make extra cookies, as they are very fragile and break easily.) Once they are cooled, very carefully peel the foil away from the back of the lace cookies; it is very easy to break the cookies. If holding the cookies for any length of time, place in an airtight container.
• For the Orange Mascarpone Filling:
• Place the cream in a small bowl and whip by hand or with an electric mixer until fairly stiff. Using a whisk, stir in the mascarpone, liqueur, sugar, and orange zest until the mixture is smooth. Be careful not to over mix, because the mascarpone might separate. Use immediately, or set aside and refrigerate for up to 3 hours.
• To assemble, place 1 lace cookie on a dessert plate. Spread 1 tablespoon of the filling gently over the cookie, or pipe, using a pastry bag. Place 4 raspberries, equally spaced, on the filling. Place a third cookie on top of the raspberries and top with 1 tablespoon of the filling. Repeat with the remaining cookies and filling.
• Garnish each dessert with 3 or 4 raspberries and a mint sprig. Serve immediately.

PISTACHIO LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• For the cookie dough, melt the butter and cool until tepid or barely warm to the touch, for about 40 minutes.
• Grind the pistachios and sugar in a food processor, pulsing on/off until the nuts are coarsely chopped, or chop the nuts by hand and mix them with the sugar. Blend the flour and the pistachio/sugar mixture using an electric mixer. Add the tepid butter, orange juice and Grand Marnier and mix just until evenly moistened. The dough will be wet and sticky. Spread the dough out into a 1-inch wide log on a sheet of plastic wrap. Using the wrap as an aid, roll the dough up in plastic. Refrigerate or freeze until firm, for about 6 hours. (This can be prepared ahead and refrigerated 1 week or wrapped in freezer paper and frozen several months. Defrost in the refrigerator before continuing with the recipe.)
• To bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the dough into 1/8-inch-thick coins. Arrange as many as will fit on the prepared sheets, leaving 2 inches between the cookies. Dip a fork in water, shake dry and use it to flatten the cookies. Bake the cookies until well browned, for about 12 minutes, exchanging the position of the baking sheets in the oven halfway. Let the cookies cool on parchment until firm enough to dislodge with a spatula, for about 5 minutes. Gently transfer to racks in a single layer. Arrange and bake the remaining coins in the same manner. Cool the cookies completely on racks. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.