Clares Lace Cookies

 

One thing to love about the "Aunt Dimity" series of mysteries by Nancy Atherton, is a lovely recipe added in at the end.  Something casually featured in the story, nice but not necessary.  Just delicious.  And for lovers of good food and murder mysteries (what exactly is the connection there?) the perfect ending.  You not only get the puzzle solved but a treat as well.  That is if you make the effort to cook it up.

Right now I'm reading Aunt Dimity: Detective, and the treat at the end is The Pym Sisters' Gilded Gingerbread, which I'm looking forward to trying.  These Lace Cookies were the nice surprise, the fillip to finish Aunt Dimity's Christmas.  Light, crispy and delectable.

Atherton's series involves just a tad of magic in the form of a nicely haunted English cottage, by Aunt Dimity, a very helpful ghost, in the solving of problems.  Probably not everyone's cup of tea, though I find them delightful.

Many of you have probably come across Lace Cookies, but this was my first experience with them, and not to be the last, I'm sure.  The only change I made was to substitute 1/2 the amount of corn syrup with agave nectar, and it didn't seem to harm them at all.  As you can see, they're nice and lacy.

CLARE'S LACE COOKIES

 

1 cup sifted flour

1 cup chopped flaked coconut or chopped walnuts

1/4 cup light corn syrup & 1/4 cup agave nectar (or all corn syrup if you like)

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 teas. vanilla

 

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix flour and coconut (or walnuts) together.

Combine syrup, sugar and butter in heavy saucepan.  Over medium heat, bring syrup mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat. 

 

 

Gradually blend flour mixture, then vanilla into syrup mixture.

Drop onto foil-covered cookie sheets by scant teaspoons, 3 inches apart (dough will spread during baking).  Bake for 8-10 minutes.

 

 

Cool on wire rack until foil peels off easily.  Remove from foil.  Place cookies on rack covered with absorbent paper.  Enjoy with a glass of buttermilk or a cup of tea.  We ladies had an herbal iced tea with ours this morning.