These Tuscan cookies are a Christmas classic. They’re nutty, lacy and crisp, as well as deceptively simple to make. Drizzling them with chocolate turns them into the perfect holiday indulgence.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 35 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 45 min |
| Cook: | 20 min |
| Yield: | 5 dozen 3-inch Florentines, or 2 1/2 dozen 6-inch Florentine |
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups sliced, blanched almonds (about 5 ounces)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 to 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir together the nuts, flour, zest and salt in a large bowl.
- Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, then pour mixture into almond mixture and stir just to combine. Set aside until cool enough to handle, 30 minutes.
- Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3-inch cookies) or rounded tablespoons (for 6-inch cookies) of batter and roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 3 to 4 inches between each cookie since they spread.
- Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 to 11 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve.
- Optional chocolate topping: Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very low simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, about 1 to 2 minutes more.)
- For sandwiches: Drop about 1/2 teaspoon chocolate onto on the flat side of half of the cookies and press together with remaining halves. Return to rack and let chocolate set.
- For chocolate decor: Drizzle melted chocolate over Florentines as desired. Set aside at room temperature until chocolate is set.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 60 servings |
| Calories | 44 |
| Total Fat | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 5 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Cholesterol | 3 mg |
| Sodium | 11 mg |
Reviews
Why isn’t the video about making the cookie?
I made this recipe today…super simple and my only tips would be to reduce the orange rind, add 1/2 tsp. Of almond extract and cover the dough while it’s cooling and in between batches. Kept it very pliable.
Excellent,delicious tasting cookie!!
I made these and they were perfect!! Just getting ready to drizzle some bittersweet chocolate on top!!
I’ve made these cookies a few times, and they have come out great each time. I read a few reviews that said the dough dried out, and this also happened to me. I weighed each cookie out to 5 oz. and then when I rolled them into balls, they came together with no problem. Mine also spread out while baking, but they are lace cookies so I was expecting that. The last time I made them, I stuck two of the cookies together with melted chocolate and then drizzled chocolate on top to make one cookie. My family and coworkers absolutely loved them!
Love the taste of these cookies, but boy they are not the easiest to make! I agree the directions are very confusing. I read all the reviews twice, then hand wrote the tips. I cooled the batter about 30 SECONDS, but still had a dry dough that was very difficult to work with. Couldn’t really roll the dough into balls — sort of ‘squeezed’ it together. I used convection bake and watched the baking very closely. Times varied depending upon the type and size of cookie sheet I used. I removed the cookies while still on the parchment paper immediately from the pans to cook on racks. After 5 mins the cookies were firm and cool and lifted right off the paper. I’d probably make them again, but ———buying them is a lot easier:-)
Great recipe, great taste. But mine really spread out when I baked them. Took a few batches to get this correct. I actually wonder if there’s too much liquid in the recipe; maybe they shouldn’t spread out quite so much?
I made this exactly as directed and my cookies came out beautifully and were absolutely delicious. I routinely get florentines from my grocery store and finally decided to try making them. I never expected them to turn out so well on the first try. The only alteration I made was to do half the amount of orange zest since I’m not a huge citrus person. I thought it was perfect. I also miraculously got exactly 32 cookies. Not sure they were all quite 6 inches but I did measure out a tablespoon of dough for each. I would consider using a little less butter next time as the cookies were quite greasy to the touch. (Tho the texture and taste were perfect.) Not sure why others are complaining about the dough being dry. It did dry out/get kind of crumbly by the time I got to the last half of the cookies but I had no problem forming balls out of it.
The flavor is great but oh my lord the DRYNESS. This was my 3rd time trying this recipe and I’ve always had some issues, but at least the last two times I could bake them and they came out to a tasty brittle. This time I tried waiting longer for the batter to actually cool, the 30 minutes that was listed and it was a huge mistake. I had to carve them out the bowl with my spoon they were so hard only to have them crumble in my hands when I tried to roll them into a ball. I don’t know what to do.
Near disaster, dough way too dry. Barely had enough time to roll into balls and even that was a challenge with the dough being so dry. Sorry, thumbs down on this one.
The flavor is right on but boy does this dough dry out quickly! I couldn’t get the balls rolled quickly enough before it became unworkable and wouldn’t hold together. Only HALF of the batter came out as it should. I’ll keep looking for recipes for this one…..can’t say I approve!