These delicate almond lace wafer cookies have a wonderfully light crisp texture and can easily be made gluten free. Dip them in chocolate or leave them plain, they’re always a hit!
VINTAGE VIEW ~ these Almond Lace Wafers are from TVFGI archives, first published in 2015. I’m reviving some of the best recipes that you may have missed over the years ~ these cookies were part of my fun Reader’s Recipe series where you guys submitted your favorite holiday cookies. This one looks like it would be tricky to make, but it’s not!
Today’s recipe for beautiful Almond Lace Wafers was sent in by Donna, who lives in Carmel Indiana. This was her mom’s recipe, and it’s been a beloved Christmas tradition for her since she was a child. I hear it again and again in your emails to me, these cookie recipes that you send in represent treasured holiday memories, and the ritual of making of them year after year is an important part of your lives. Like all of the other cookies I’ve shared, these are incredibly delicious, too, and I have a feeling that after this post there’ll be a lot more people out there who’ll want to incorporate them into their own holidays.
Almond lace cookies are an old time favorite
In her note to me, Donna called these cookies “fragile, beautiful, and delicious.” I couldn’t describe them better. They have a lovely almond toffee flavor, with a snappy crispness. The batter is very thin and spreads out in the oven to make the lacy appearance. They flat cookies are cooled for a minute, then rolled around the handle of a wooden spoon to form little tubes. The toffee candy flavor and crunch comes from the butter and sugar caramelizing in the oven.
Use almond meal or grind your own almonds
While the recipe calls for grinding almonds I used almond meal and it worked great. It’s a nice thing to have around for holiday baking, I keep it in the fridge to preserve the freshness longer, because nut meals can spoil quickly. Using the pre-ground almonds really makes this cookie a snap to put together.
Rolling these cookies is not difficult!
The rolling of the fresh-from-the-oven cookies was surprisingly easy and not as fussy as I’d feared. You’ll need the handle of a wooden spoon, or something similar, to roll the warm cookies around. They cool down and hold their shape immediately so you can move right on to the next.
Almond lace cookies have a Scandinavian heritage
Donna says her mother was Swedish, and that makes sense since these cookies are definitely Scandinavian in origin. You can leave them flat if you don’t want to roll them, and I couldn’t resist dipping a few of them in a little dark chocolate.
The verdict?
I was really happy with this recipe, but I guess I should expect that by now, every cookie in this series has been a slam dunk. In the past I’ve had lace cookies that were either too delicate, or too greasy, but these were just perfect. They’re thick enough to hold together and have some body, but still incredibly light and crisp.
Thanks so much for sharing these with us Donna <3
notes for almond lace cookies:
- Get everything organized before starting because it’s a quick process with steps that need to be done promptly. Locate a wooden spoon with a slender handle, even a round chopstick would work.
- Prepping the baking sheets is key — be sure to grease or spray them, and then dust with flour. I re-dusted with flour a couple of times. I did try my silicone mat but it did not work as well as the greasing and dusting, fyi.
- While it sounds a little bit hectic to have to remove the cookies at exactly the right time, let them cool for a minute, then flip and roll them, all before they harden, I found it was really easy and problem free. The warmth of the cookie sheet keeps the cookies pliable enough while you roll them, I never had to put them back into the oven to soften.
- It helps to do a test cookie or two to make sure your oven is set correctly, etc.
- For easy chocolate dipping, put a cup of chocolate chips in a pyrex measuring cup and microwave for 60 seconds. Stir until melted and smooth. Zap for a few more seconds if necessary. Dip half of the cookie into the chocolate, shake off excess, and lay on parchment to firm up. It helps to put them in the refrigerator to speed up the process.
tvfgi recommends: USA Sheet Pans
There are sheet pans, and then there are sheet pans. I used to use cheap sheet pans that warped and twisted and burned the bottoms of my cookies. Then I tried USA pans and realized that there is a difference. These pans have no bells and whistles, they’re just good solid durable cookware. A set of two will see you through many years of holiday cookie baking. USA makes a whole line of bakeware and I’m slowly replacing all my pans. Plus, they’re made in the USA!
Make these almond lace wafers your own!
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Make them gluten free by substituting gluten free flour for the regular flour.
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You can substitute other varieties of ground nuts for the almonds, I think pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts would be great. You can also make these with oatmeal!
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Dip them in white chocolate.
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Double dip in sprinkles or nonpareils for a pretty effect.
Almond Lace Wafers
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup grated un-blanched almonds (use blender nut grater, or food processor - do not
- grind into powder but leave a bit crunchy) [Sue's note: I used almond meal.]
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp flour [ or use a gluten free flour mix or oat flour if you like]
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream or evaporated milk
- 1 Tbsp whole milk
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Grease and flour 2 cookie sheets.
- Put the ground almonds or almond meal into a saucepan.
- Mix in all remaining ingredients.
- Cook over low heat until butter melts, stirring constantly. Batter is very thin.
- Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet, only 5-6 at a time as batter will spread.
- Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until a light caramel color, with centers still bubbly. Watch very carefully so as not to overbrown.
- Let cool for 1 minute, then immediately transfer, UPSIDE DOWN, to waxed paper.
- Working quickly, immediately roll each cookie quickly around the handle of a wooden spoon, forming a loose cylinder. If cookies start to harden, return to oven for 1 minute to soften.
- Allow to cool.
58 Comments
Sue
December 31, 2020 at 12:49 pmMy mother made this recipe every holiday. This year we baked the cookies on parchment paper and it worked really well. When cookies are done, remove from oven and slide parchment with cookies off the hot sheet on to stone counter top. Let them cool there for maybe 10 seconds – until the cookie edge holds. Have a duplicate piece of parchment ready. Place duplicate parchment over cookies and flip them over. They peal right off. Then pull the cookies which are now on the duplicate parchment back on the warm cookie sheet. Start rolling. They are the perfect temperature to form around a spoon handle and the residual heat keeps the waiting cookies pliable. These cookies also make a delicious torte. Make larger but flat cookies. Layer with ice cream and drizzle with chocolate.
Sue
December 31, 2020 at 1:03 pmThanks so much Sue!
Pat
February 15, 2020 at 9:28 amExcellent recipe. I used tapioca flour for gluten free cookie and that worked better than the gluten free flour mix which I have found doesn’t crisp very well. Also used Silicon mat and they turned out perfect. I flipped them one at a time back onto the mat and they stayed warm enough to easily roll. Will be making these again.
Cathy
December 2, 2019 at 9:54 amHow many wafers does this make?
Sue
December 2, 2019 at 11:07 amThe recipe makes about 27-30 cookies, give or take.
Claire Rea
January 22, 2019 at 2:40 pmHi Sue,
Another of your wonderful recipes I can add to my repertoire! I found these easy to make but you really must pay attention. The only thing is mine came out more lacey than I expected. The ones in your picture are thicker. Should I just add a bit more flour
Sue
January 22, 2019 at 5:43 pmThat should work fine Claire.
Heba Abu Zaina
January 5, 2019 at 2:03 amHello ..
I tried to make this twice, but each time, I couldn’t roll them around the handle of a wooden spoon !
What shall I do in that case ?
Sue
January 5, 2019 at 6:45 amIt sounds like they were too cool, Heba. Next time be sure to roll them sooner. You might try putting the cookies back in the oven briefly, they might soften enough to roll.
Rubina Islam
January 4, 2019 at 8:08 pmI had almond lace tuile at a potluck party and the person who make it stuffed it with some kind of cream. It was absolutely delicious. I’ve looking for the recipe for both the cookie as well as the cream stuffing recipe ever since. Do you by any chance have recipe for the cream stuffing?
Sue
January 5, 2019 at 6:46 amI don’t, but you might try searching for a basic pastry cream, Rubina.
Jack
December 15, 2018 at 9:47 pmGot my answer by reading the comments about parchment paper – but what about using honey as a sweetener instead of sugar (like 1/3 cup scant or even 1/4 cup) and almond milk for the dairy milk? (Does it have to be heavy cream and milk – is there something to do with the fat content in the cream/dairy milk?)
Sue
December 16, 2018 at 10:43 amYou would need to substitute another granulated sugar product, not honey, in this recipe, to keep the correct structure to these cookies. I’m not sure about the almond milk substitution because I haven’t tried that, sorry Jack.
Jack
December 15, 2018 at 9:40 pmWondering if you could use parchment paper to line the pans?
Kathy
December 13, 2018 at 8:45 amI just made these with pecans as I’m not an almond fan. They are absolutely delicious!! I found lining the pan with parchment paper worked the best.
Sue
December 13, 2018 at 9:14 amI would LOVE to try these with pecans, that sounds really wonderful.
Rachita
August 14, 2018 at 10:47 pmSue, Any ideas for making this vegan?
Sue
November 19, 2018 at 12:17 pmYou might try coconut oil and coconut milk for the butter and dairy milks.
Anna
March 3, 2018 at 10:33 amAlthough these tasted delicious, I found these ridiculously hard to make. I followed the recipe exactly but the first batch burned in only a couple minutes and never did spread out. They were way too small and thick to consider wrapping them around a spoon handle. I manually spread out the second batch and watched them like a hawk and took them out before they burned only to have them completely fall apart when transferring. By the time I got to the third batch the butter oil had separated from the rest of the batter and they don’t seem like they are baking well because of it. It’s a shame.
Sue
March 3, 2018 at 10:46 amHave you checked your oven temperature Anna? It sounds like that might be the problem, these work like a dream for me.
theresa duke
February 23, 2018 at 7:38 pmThis does NOT work when using pecans instead of almonds!
Sue
February 23, 2018 at 7:44 pmThat’s good to know Theresa. I’m surprised, i would have thought that if they were finely ground like the almonds, that pecans would work!
Sunita
December 18, 2017 at 3:16 amHi, we don’t get gluten free flour. So can I use almond flour or grind white oats (Quaker quick cooking)
Sue
December 18, 2017 at 4:59 amYes, I would use the oats. The tablespoon of flour is very small, but I think it does serve to bind together the thin batter.
Tammy
December 13, 2017 at 3:04 pmI just bought almond flour and wondering if it would work in this recipe, and also whether I could sub half and half for the milk and cream. Thoughts? I’ve not made these cookies before.
Sue
December 13, 2017 at 3:08 pmI used Trader Joe’s almond meal and it worked great, I assume your almond flour would work, too, Tammy. I think the half and half would be ok, as well. Good luck!
Danielle Roberts
September 5, 2017 at 3:28 amHi Sue, I’m entertaining this weekend and would love to make them in advance! How long did yours stay fresh in the fridge for? They look incredible!!
Thanks,
Danielle
Sue
September 5, 2017 at 7:30 amHey Danielle, as I recall they kept pretty well, I’d say you could make them a day or two ahead of time.
Sue
December 12, 2018 at 8:43 pmI’ve heard straight from Donna that these cookies should not be stored in the fridge or in a plastic container or they will get soft. They need to be stored in a tin or metal container so they stay nice and crispy. They’ll keep for quite a while this way – at least a week. Hope this helps!
Heather
December 15, 2016 at 11:21 amThese were more challenging than I thought they would be. The key is to only put only a teaspoon or two of batter on the baking sheet. They spread far and wide! Mine turned out to be very brittle. Too much so for my liking. I found them messy to eat. I’m sure I did something wrong – I’m not much of a baker.
Sue
December 15, 2016 at 11:51 amSorry they didn’t work for you Heather, they might be slightly more challenging for a beginning baker. They should be pliable enough to roll, it sounds like maybe they got baked a tiny bit too long?
Martina
March 18, 2016 at 6:32 amIn the notes you mention that this recipe can be made with oatmeal. Would you replace the nuts with oatmeal, or do you add oatmeal in addition to almonds?
Sue
March 18, 2016 at 7:45 amYou would use oats in place of the nuts, Martina..
as
January 22, 2016 at 6:20 pmGreetings. Tried your lace cookies and the flavor was awesome. Mine didn’t form it was like a crumble over an ice cream. Don’t know what I did wrong.
Sue
January 22, 2016 at 6:29 pmDid you get them right off the baking sheet when they came out of the oven? I found they hardened up very quickly so you have to form them around the spoon handle right away.
Adri
January 17, 2016 at 8:42 pmOh my, but this is one of my favorite cookies, and I always try every recipe I see. This one is next on mt “to do” list. Thank you for posting this one.
Janet Laybourne
December 6, 2015 at 8:10 amHi Sue. I’ve always wondered why some recipes specifically call for unsalted butter over salted. Can you clarify that for me?
Sue
December 6, 2015 at 8:42 amHi Janet — it’s just that there is quite a bit of salt in salted butter, and for baking it makes sense to use the unsalted so you know exactly how much salt is going in your recipe. When baking recipes don’t specify, they really mean UNsalted.
Vicki Bensinger
December 1, 2015 at 5:00 pmAlmond Lace cookies are my all time favorite. These have to be sensational if they’ve been passed down over the years. I’ve printed the recipe to try and dip into the chocolate.
Sue
December 1, 2015 at 5:08 pmThanks Vicki, that’s how I feel about these reader’s recipes, they have all been phenomenal, and I guess it makes sense because they’ve passed the test of time 🙂
Molly
December 1, 2015 at 8:33 amI can vouch that these were DELICIOUS. Taste like toffee!
Jennifer Farley
November 30, 2015 at 10:13 amWhat a lovely recipe! These would be so perfect with coffee or tea.
Susan
November 30, 2015 at 9:26 amI’d love to try making these and I love your chocolate dipped version! These look so crispy and delicious. I’m going to start baking soon!
Medeja
November 29, 2015 at 8:08 amThey look so irresistible! I don’t think I would be able to stop eating them 😀
Susan
November 29, 2015 at 5:25 amLovely! I look forward to giving the recipe a try. Thanks!
Diane {Created by Diane}
November 28, 2015 at 6:21 pmoh these just look PERFECT and dipped in chocolate, oh yes please!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
November 28, 2015 at 5:36 pmSuch pretty cookies, I’d dip them in chocolate too!
Sue
November 28, 2015 at 6:13 pmEverything’s better dipped in chocolate 😉
Thao @ In Good Flavor
November 28, 2015 at 2:30 pmThese cookies look delicious, Sue. I make a variation these lace cookies—they are one of my family’s favorites. I can eat every single one of them right now!
Sue
November 28, 2015 at 6:14 pmThey’re so light and airy it’s easy to get carried away!
Liz
November 28, 2015 at 2:09 pmThese are picture perfect, Sue! Too funny that the recipe comes from someone who lives just minutes north of me!!!
Monica
November 28, 2015 at 12:58 pmThese almond lace cookies are one of my favorites! I love the crunch and the caramel-nutty flavor. Kudos to you for rolingl them so beautifully. I always struggle with that! Come Christmas time, I want to dip every cookie in chocolate. These are perfect!
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November 28, 2015 at 11:15 amThose almond wafers look gorgeous, Sue. You did a great job creating those beauties.
Sue
November 28, 2015 at 12:32 pmThanks Angie, they were a lot easier than I imagined!
Tricia @ Saving room for dessert
November 28, 2015 at 11:12 amWow – these are gorgeous! I love these kind of cookies and I bet the chocolate dipped version is wonderful too – love the photos – beeeeautiful!
Chris
November 28, 2015 at 10:28 amBeautiful pictures and gorgeous cookies. They look so elegant! I love that you can dress them up with chocolate or leave them plain and simple.
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl
November 28, 2015 at 8:37 amSo glad I hopped on your blog this morning! These look elegant, delicious and simple. Thanks for sharing, as always. I hope you had a wonderful week!
Sue
November 28, 2015 at 9:33 amThanks Pam — these are so addictive I’m having one (or two) with my coffee!