Dried Fruit Nut Florentine Cookies Food

NIGELLA'S FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Melt the butter at a low heat in a medium sized pan.
• Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
• Beat in the flour as if making a white sauce.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream. Beat until smooth, then stir in the fruit and nuts.
• Place teaspoonfuls, well spaced apart, on baking trays lined with baking paper. The mixture will spread.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for 10 minutes. The florentines are done when the edges have turned a golden brown.
• Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, reshaping them into rounds quickly if needed, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of nearly boiling water.
• Spread the melted chocolate over the backs of the Florentines with a palette knife or back of a spoon. Place chocolate side up onto a sheet of baking paper and leave to set.

FLORENTINE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine honey, sugar, and butter in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until the temperature reaches 238 degrees (the soft-ball stage) on a candy thermometer. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine nuts, dried fruit, flour, and spices.
• Pour honey-sugar mixture over contents in large bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon to combine. When cool enough to handle, form into 1-inch balls with hands coated with vegetable shortening to prevent sticking. Place on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat mat or parchment paper, and flatten into balls with the palm of your hand. Bake until bubbled on top, about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
• Meanwhile, melt the chocolate: In the top of a double boiler or in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stir chocolate with a spatula until smooth. Working quickly, using a small offset spatula, spread a thick layer of chocolate on the back of each cooled cookie. Place cookies, chocolate side up, on a wire rack until chocolate is hardened. Store between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container.

LACE COOKIES (FLORENTINE COOKIES)

Steps:

• 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.

HOLIDAY OATMEAL COOKIES WITH DRIED FRUIT AND NUTS

Steps:

• Set oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease a large cookie sheet/s.
• In a large bowl combine oil with eggs, both sugars and extract; beat well using an electric mixer on medium speed.
• In a small bowl combine whole wheat flour with baking soda, salt and cinnamon (if using) add to the oil mixture and mix just until combined.
• In a bowl combine the rolled oats with coconut, cranberries, cherries, almonds and chocolate chips (if using) add to the batter and mix until combined.
• Roll into about 1-inch balls then place onto greased baking sheet.
• Flatten slightly with a fork.
• Bake about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Cool 2 minutes then remove to a rack to cool completely.

DRIED FRUIT-NUT FLORENTINE COOKIES

Steps:

• INSTRUCTIONS: For the pastry: Adjust rack in the center of oven; preheat oven to 350°. Set nearby a 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 1-inch jelly-roll pan. In a food processor bowl fitted with the steel blade, pulse the flour, sugar and salt to blend. Cut butter into 1/4-inch slices, scatter over the flour mixture and pulse with short on/off bursts just until a crumbly mass forms (similar to streusel). Scatter the dough over the pan and with fingertips press it together evenly to form the crust. (No need to press it up sides of pan.) Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until set and pale gold on top. Don't turn off the oven. For the topping: In a small bowl, toss together the almonds, pistachios, ginger, orange peel and cranberries and set aside. Pour the cream, honey, corn syrup and sugars into a 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir to combine, then add the butter. Stir over medium-low heat until the butter melts. Increase the heat to medium, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon or a silicon spatula (heat resistant to 500°) especially toward the end of cooking to prevent scorching. Cook just until the mixture reaches 235° (use a digital thermometer, if possible), about 8 to 10 minutes. The mixture will appear straw-colored. Remove from heat, and stir in nut-fruit mixture. Pour the thick, hot mixture on the partially baked pastry and spread it thinly. Bake for 7 minutes; then spread the now more liquid topping evenly over the pastry. Return to the oven and bake an additional 13 to 14 minutes, or until golden on top. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack to cool. When completely cool, cut 2-inch wide strips crosswise with a sharp-bladed knife to yield seven 2-by-10-inch strips. Cut across each strip diagonally in alternate directions to form triangular-shaped bars.