Van's Faves
Submitted by clue
Van’s Faves are crisp lace-thin oat cookies scented with orange zest and finished with a chocolate drizzle. Eight ingredients, big crunch, and an old-fashioned tin-cookie feel.
YIELD
1 batchPREP
25 minCOOK
30 minREADY
1 hrsVan’s Faves are a thin, crisp, lace-edged oat cookie that come out of the oven looking like delicate caramelized discs. The recipe is one of those quiet church-cookbook gems: butter melted over rolled oats so every flake turns golden and toasted in the bake, an egg beaten foamy and whisked with sugar for the lift, just a tablespoon of flour for structure (yes, only a tablespoon), and a generous two tablespoons of fresh orange zest for that bright citrus pop in every bite.
They spread dramatically in the oven, so leave three inches between scoops and bake just until the edges turn a deep golden brown. Let them cool a minute on the sheet to firm up, then transfer to racks. The finish is the showpiece: a square of bittersweet chocolate melted gently and drizzled in thin ribbons off the tip of a knife. Stored in an airtight tin, they keep their snap for a week.
Pro Tips
- Watch them like a hawk in the last two minutes. Once they start caramelizing, they go from golden to burnt in under thirty seconds.
- Use parchment paper instead of grease-and-flour. These delicate cookies can stick stubbornly to bare metal even when greased.
- The orange zest is doing real flavor work. Use freshly grated zest from a real orange. Bottled stuff won’t deliver.
- Cool completely before drizzling with chocolate, or the chocolate slides off and pools on the rack.
Variations
- Swap orange zest for lemon zest and pair with white chocolate drizzle.
- Add a quarter cup of toasted slivered almonds for extra crunch.
- Sandwich pairs of cookies with a thin layer of orange marmalade for an elevated Florentine-style treat.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Melt butter in small pan or microwaveable bowl and add rolled oats; stir until all oats are coated with butter.
Set aside.
Beat egg until foamy.
Add sugar and beat until light. Add baking powder and flour to the egg mixture.
Then mix in the oatmeal/butter mixture. Stir in the orange ri nd.
Grease and flour a cookie sheet.
Drop batter, ½ tablespoon at a time, about 3 inches apart on cookie sheets (these do spread as they cook).
Bake 8 to 12 minutes, watching carefully.
Baking time will depend a lot on individual ovens.
Onc e they start to caramelize, it goes quickly, so remove from oven when cookies a re golden.
Allow to cool about 1 minute then remove from cookie sheet onto cool ing racks.
When cookies are cool: Melt chocolate square in double boner, or nuke on Low in microwave until melted, stirring frequently, making sure not to let chocolate burn.
Allowing chocolate to drip off the tip of a table knife, drizzle cookies lightly with chocolate.
Store in airtight tins.
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