Florentine Cookies Recipe

Prep Time:

50 mins

Cook Time:

1 hr

Additional Time:

30 mins

Total Time:

2 hrs 20 mins

Servings:

Yield:

18 chocolate-filled cookies

Jump to Nutrition Facts

If you asked the average person to name their five favorite cookies, lace cookies (a.k.a. Florentine cookies), wouldn't make it on to many of those lists. That's kind of surprising for several reasons: First of all, they'reincredibly simple to prepare. Also, the dough only takes minutes to make. Finally, they are very adaptable — the same technique works beautifully no matter which nuts or type of chocolate you use.

Maybe it's the fact that these are closer to a candy than a cookie, but whatever the reason, they are very much underrated. You can also add "durable" to their list of adjectives, which is why they make for such a great edible gift.

Please note: The baking time given here is only a rough estimate. Depending on the particulars of your pan, oven, and portion size, your actual time might be a few minutes off either way. So forget about time and go by appearance instead. These should be baked until golden brown with a slightly darker golden brown ring around the outside.

Once they're cool and crisp, they are ready to be spread and sandwiched with chocolate. Or, if you're one of these people who are only able to eat one cookie at a time, you can drizzle the chocolate over the tops instead. Speaking of cool and crisp, while these are still warm, you can roll or bend them into whatever shapes you want. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is nice, but imagine how much nicer it would be served in an edible lace cookie cup? So, whether you make these as shown or bend them to you will, I really do hope you give them a try soon. Enjoy!

a stack of thin caramel-colored almond cookies — Chef John's Florentines . Chef John

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Ingredients

1 ½ cups whole raw almonds
½ cup unsalted butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner (such as Silpat®).
Place almonds into the bowl of a food processor; alternate pulsing and running at full speed every few seconds until finely chopped and crumblike. Be careful not to go too far; you don't want them too fine and pasty.
Combine butter, brown sugar, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir a few times and cook until melted and dissolved. Bring to a boil, then carefully remove from the heat.
Add vanilla extract, salt, and flour, and whisk until smooth. Add chopped almonds and mix with a spatula until everything is combined.
Drop eight uniformly sized, rounded spoonfuls of batter (each about 2 teaspoons, or 15 grams) onto the prepared sheet. Fine-tune the cookie shapes and make sure they are evenly spaced.
Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until golden brown and a bit darker around the outsides, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
Remove from the oven and slide the silicone liner off the baking sheet and directly onto the countertop. Allow to sit until cool and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes, then gently peel cookies off the liner. Repeat to bake remaining batches.
Spread melted chocolate over the flat side of one cookie. Place a second cookie, flat-side down, on top to make a sandwich and press very gently to seal. Repeat to form remaining cookies. Let sit until chocolate has firmed up, about 30 minutes.

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Chef's Notes

You can chop the almonds by hand but it will take a lot longer.

You can use any type of nuts, such as walnuts or macadamia nuts, and any type of chocolate you'd like. You can skip the chocolate and eat them as is; this will result in twice as many cookies.

Honey adds a pronounced caramelized, burnt-honey flavor. For a milder, more neutral taste, use corn syrup in place of honey.

If you let your melted chocolate cool a bit and get a little thicker, you can avoid the chocolate squeezing out through the holes of the cookies.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

213	Calories
14g	Fat
22g	Carbs
3g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 18
Calories 213
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 14g	18%
Saturated Fat 5g	27%
Cholesterol 14mg	5%
Sodium 13mg	1%
Total Carbohydrate 22g	8%
Dietary Fiber 2g	7%
Total Sugars 18g
Protein 3g	6%
Calcium 42mg	3%
Iron 1mg	5%
Potassium 138mg	3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.

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