Oatmeal Lace Cookies

I'm not having the best day today. NYC is cold and rainy and so windy that it's making my windows rattle and my puppy bark. Work is piling up with no end in sight. My ankle is still slightly sore from when I twisted it over the weekend, making it almost impossible to do any sort of physical exercise. And let's just say that when Susan Miller predicted that "loved ones will be difficult" in August--well, she wasn't kidding. Ugh.

And so, when 4 PM hit and I received the latest in a slew of annoying emails, I did what I always do in situations like these. I baked. And an hour later, hands covered in a sticky combination of sugar and butter, apartment smelling warm and nutty and homey, I felt better. These cookies are basically just classic lace cookies. I never realized how easy they are to make until I actually went ahead and did it. It's only six ingredients with no need for a fancy electric mixer. Just a bowl, a spoon and you. They come out delicate and fragrant with a satisfying nutty flavor due to the combination of oats, deep brown sugar and melted butter. Plus, they're pretty. They look like lace. Except edible. Can't beat that.

Oatmeal Lace Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups instant oats
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the dry ingredients together.

Melt the butter and add to dry ingredients. Mix well. Add the egg and the vanilla.

Drop by tiny spoonfuls onto a well-greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet with parchment paper lined onto it and flatten with your fingers. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies begin to brown. Remove from oven, let sit a minute or two and then remove from the sheet.  If they stick to the cookie sheet, put them back into the oven for a minute or two.