Culinary Chronicles: Oatmeal Crisps

These are very thin crunchy oatmeal cookies, sometimes called Oatmeal Lace cookies.  I far prefer them to the thick chewy raisin laden type of oatmeal cookies.   I'm pretty sure that I first copied this recipe down out of my Grandma Jan's recipe box when I was about 9 or 10.  At this point the recipe consists of no more than the list of ingredients below, and I just rely on memory to get the rest of it right.  There are no spices included in the ingredient list, but I did add some classic spice-cookie spices the last time I made them, and I think it was a pleasant addition.  Make your own call.

Oatmeal Crisps


1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups quick oats
1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
*1 tsp or more cold water, as needed to keep dough sticky
[1/2 tsp. each of ginger and cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. cloves-- optional}

Cream butter and sugar together.  Beat in two eggs and vanilla.  In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt and baking soda together, along with the spices if you are using them.  Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.  Stir in the oats and nuts until well incorporated.   Scoop what seem like small balls of dough onto a cookie sheet with plenty of space in between each one, using a teaspoon sized measuring spoon, or a melon baller. The trickiest part of this recipe is making sure that the dough is moist enough so that the cookies spread out as thin as they are supposed to.  The dough should be pretty sticky, but the dollop should still hold its shape as it sits on the cookie sheet.  Bake at 350° F, for about 12 minutes.  You may have to test bake a few and adjust the moisture level as needed for the second round.  It's also helpful to have two cookie sheets for baking because the cookies need to cool for a couple of minutes on the sheet before you try to remove them due to their thinness.