Swedish Oatmeal Lace Cookies (Havreflarn)

Swedish oatmeal lace cookies (havreflarn) are delicate, wafer-thin cookies that are both crispy and chewy. The center is full of oats that give it a chewy texture, while the outside is crispy and tastes of caramel. These beautiful cookies look difficult to make but they’re actually quite easy! And you probably already have all the ingredients you need in your pantry.

This is not your standard thick and hearty oatmeal cookie (which we also love) This is the Scandinavian version and it’s light, crispy and extremely thin and see-through (the reason they’re called “lace” cookies). This recipe makes a lot of cookies, so you’ll have plenty to share!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Oatmeal: I used rolled oats in this recipe because they give more of a chewy bite to these cookies. Quick or instant oats may make these cookies too fragile or dry, but I haven’t tried them yet. If you do, let me know how they turn out.
• All-purpose flour: Just a little bit of flour to hold everything together.
• Butter: I use unsalted butter when baking. Different brands of butter use varying amounts of salt in salted butter. Using unsalted butter will help give uniform results when baking. If you’re using salted butter, reduce or eliminate any additional salt.
• Vanilla: Enhances other flavors and adds a warm background note.

How to Make Swedish Oatmeal Lace Cookies (Havreflarn)

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat or in the microwave. Stir in the oats.

• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

• In a separate, large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

• Add the flour mixture and stir to combine.
• Add the butter and oats to the egg mixture and mix until just combined.

• Drop heaping teaspoons (about 1 1/2 tsp) of the batter onto the baking sheets. Make sure to leave about 2 inches around each cookie because they spread a great deal.
• Bake 7-9 minutes or until the cookies are brown around the edges. These cookies go from pale to brown very quickly so pay close attention towards the end of the bake time.
• Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Expert Tips

• Leave enough space – These cookies expand a lot when baked so make sure to leave plenty of space between each cookie and the sides of the baking sheets. It means you’ll have to bake them in more batches, but otherwise you’ll end up with one giant cookie!
• Make them bigger – I’ve made larger cookies using 1 Tbsp of batter and they turned out beautifully. You may need to add a little extra baking time. Using a tablespoon of batter yields approximately 24 cookies.

Variations

• Melt and drizzle chocolate over the cookies or dip them in the chocolate.
• Spread melted chocolate on the flat surface of one cookie, and press another cookie into the chocolate, creating a chocolatey, oatmeal cookie sandwich!
• Use almond extract in place of the vanilla.

How to Store Havreflarn

Once the havreflarn have cooled, store them in an airtight container at room temperature on the counter or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

To freeze the cookies, once cooled store them in an air-tight container with parchment paper between each layer of cookies for up to 3 months. The container should be sturdy as these cookies are very delicate and will break easily, especially if other frozen foods are set on top of them.

Other Cookie Recipes You’ll Love

• Hallongrottor (Swedish Thumbprint Cookies)
• Maple Glazed Cardamom Sugar Cookies
• Coconut Dream Bars
• Kokostoppar (Swedish Coconut Macaroons)
• Lingonberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars