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    Home » Recipes » Dessert

    Florentine Cookies

    Published Dec 12, 2020 · by Jacqueline Piper · Leave a Comment · This post may contain affiliate links

    104 shares
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    These delicate almond lace cookies are fragrant with the zest of an orange. The Florentine batter is made on the stovetop and then cooled, and then the cookies are baked up thin, crispy, and sweet. Drizzle with chocolate or make sandwich cookies.

    florentine cookies stacked

    Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.

    Fancy lace cookies for the holidays

    If you love the combination of orange and chocolate then I think you'll love these chocolate florentine cookies. I began making them five or six years ago when my brother-in-law described a cookie he used to get at a bakery in Victoria BC.

    I spent some time searching and then playing around with recipes. Usually, when I make this cookie, I melt the chocolate and then sandwich the cookies together. This year for our Christmas baking I drizzled chocolate on the individual cookies. They are good both ways so you can make it whichever way you want.

    dry and wet ingredients to make florentine cookies

    Ingredients you need

    I use both slivered almonds, which I chop, and some almond flour. A lot of recipes use all purpose flour but I prefer leaving it out and using almond flour. I think it makes the cookies a little softer and chewier.

    You'll also need sugar, heavy whipping cream, and unsalted butter. Some recipes use light corn syrup, but I don't. You'll also need the zest of one orange and then your choice of chocolate to melt. I also add a half teaspoon vanilla extract.

    Ingredient Substitutions

    • Chocolate: I use dark chocolate because I just always use it, it's my favorite. I love orange and dark chocolate together. You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips if you prefer.
    • Almond Flour: Instead of buying 2 products, you can simply buy slivered almonds and process them into both chopped almonds and almond flour.
    florentine cookies stacked

    How to make Florentine Lace Cookies

    The batter for florentine cookies is made on the stovetop and then is cooled before you drop the cookies on the pan and bake them.

    Just a quick note here about equipment - when I'm away from my cabin in the winter I don't have my large food processor. So I use one by Oster which is very similar to this hand blender.

    I like mine because it has three attachments. You can chop nuts in the chopper attachment for this recipe, blend a soup or make mayonnaise with the immersion blender and whip a cream cheese icing with the whisk attachment.

    I got mine at a garage sale last year and I love it and use it all the time. I'm sharing this for people who don't want a whole big food processor sitting around all the time because this appliance really does a lot!

    Back to the recipe..

    To start, chop the almonds. Use a food processor or knife to chop the slivered almonds until they are finely chopped into small pieces. Combine the chopped almonds with almond flour, orange zest, and salt.

    In a medium pot, combine the sugar, butter, and heavy cream together. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and then hold at a boil for one minute.

    Remove the pot from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients and mix fully. Set aside and let cool for 20-30 minutes.

    florentine batter in a pot
    Florentine batter cooling in the pot

    How to bake the cookies

    In the meantime, you can prepare a few baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

    When the dough has cooled a bit, use two teaspoons to drop smalls portions of dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Drop portions that are about 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons in size. Place 12 per pan, leaving plenty of space in between the cookies, they will spread out a lot.

    Flatten each cookie a little bit with wet fingers. Don't worry about getting the edges perfect, you can fix them a bit when they come out of the oven.

    Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes or until they have spread completely and are golden brown and the edges are a bit darker. Remove from the oven and use a spoon or small offset spatula to make the edges neater.

    Let cool for 10 minutes or so before moving to a cooling rack to fully cool. Be careful, these cookies will be very soft and delicate.

    Melt the chocolate. Dip a fork into the melted chocolate and then drizzle the chocolate over the top of the florentines. Let them dry and set (I move the whole pan to the fridge for this). You can also read below to make sandwich cookies instead.

    More recipes with orange zest

    • Orange Ricotta Pancakes
    • Orange Creamsicle Cheesecake Bar
    • Cara Cara Orange Cake

    Tips and Tricks

    How to melt Chocolate in a microwave

    1. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.
    2. Heat for 30 seconds.
    3. Stir.
    4. Heat further at 15-second intervals until chocolate is about 90-95% melted.
    5. Stir until fully melted.

    How to melt Chocolate on the stovetop

    1. Add an inch or two of water to a small pot.
    2. Set a glass bowl on top of the pot.
    3. Place the chocolate in the bowl.
    4. Bring the water to a simmer.
    5. Continue to heat and stir the chocolate until fully melted.

    How to make Florentine Sandwiches Cookies

    • Melt chocolate.
    • Spread chocolate on the bottom of one cookie. Press the bottom of another cookie into the chocolate and push gently to adhere. Allow to cool and set completely.

    How to Get Perfectly Circle Florentine Cookies

    • If your cookies are a bit misshapen when they come out of the oven and you want to fix them, you can. (You can also leave them, it's fine!) To reshape them, just gently nudge the edges while they are still hot. You can use a butter knife, back of a spoon of a small offset spatula to do this.

    Recipes FAQs

    Can Florentine cookies be frozen?

    Yes, I store mine in the freezer.

    Are Florentine cookies gluten free?

    Mine are but most recipes I've read contain a few tablespoons of all purpose flour. I use almond flour instead.

    florentine cookies stacked

    Florentine Cookies with Chocolate and Orange

    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Cool: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes
    Servings: 48
    Jacqueline Piper
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Delicate almond lace cookies, drizzled with chocolate and fragrant with the zest of an orange. The batter is made on the stovetop and then cooled, and then the cookies are baked up thin, crispy, and sweet. Drizzle with chocolate or make sandwich cookies. The perfect addition to your Christmas baking list.

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 cup slivered almonds (chopped)
    • 1 cup almond flour
    • 1 teaspoon orange zest (approximately, from one orange)
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ¾ cups granulated white sugar
    • ¼ cup heavy cream
    • 5 tablespoons butter
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • chocolate for melting (about ½ cup chocolate chips)

    Instructions
     

    • Chop almonds in a food processor or with a knife until finely chopped. Combine with almond flour, zest, and salt.
    • In a medium pot, combine the sugar, cream, and butter. Bring to boil, boil for one minute, until the sugar has dissolved.
    • Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir.
    • Let cool 15-20 minutes or until it's at a temperature you can handle.15 minute timer
    • Preheat oven to 350°F.
    • Prepare a half sheet pan with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
    • Scoop teaspoons of batter onto the baking sheet. (1 - 1.5 teaspoons in size)
    • Flatten with wet fingers.
    • Bake 8-10 minutes. Bake 8 minutes
    • Let cookies cool for about 10 minutes on the pan and then move to a cooling rack.Cool 10 minutes
    • Melt chocolate in the microwave. Start with 30 seconds and then follow up with 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted. Dip a fork into the chocolate and drizzle over top of the cookies.
    • Cool in fridge to set chocolate. Store in fridge or freezer.
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    Equipment

    Half Sheet Pan
    Silicone Mat
    Parchment paper
    Offset Spatula

    Notes

    Notes – Makes about 48 1 teaspoon-sized cookies (they bake larger than this because they spread).
     
    Substitutions – Choose the chocolate you like – dark, semi-sweet, or milk chocolate.
     
    Storage – I keep mine in the fridge or freezer.
     
    Nutrition – Nutritional information is an estimate only, intended for informational purposes, and not to be used as medical or dietary advice. The estimate is based on a nutrition calculator and every recipe will vary slightly depending on the products you use in your home. This estimate is per serving.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 47kcal

    Nutritional information is an estimate. Values vary based on products used.

    Read our full Nutrition Disclaimer.
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Italian Inspired
    Keyword almond, baked, chocolate, christmas, holidays, lace, orange
    Have you tried a recipe? Tag @pipercooksblog or tag #pipercooksblog!

    Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.

    florentine cookies stacked with text overlay for Pinterest

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