Florentines Chocolate Almond Lace Cookies Food

FLORENTINE LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Toast the almonds, either in a dry pan over medium heat (stirring occasionally), or in a shallow pan in the oven, for about 5 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant.
• Place the almonds in a food processor or mini-chopper, and pulse a few times, until they are coarsely chopped.
• Preheat the oven to 350
• Transfer the chopped almonds to a bowl and add the flour, salt, and orange zest. Toss to combine.
• Place the sugars, cream, and butter in a small pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugars are dissolved and the butter is melted.
• Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil.
• Remove from heat and pour the hot sugar mixture over the almond mixture. Stir to combine
• Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to drop the batter onto the prepared cookie sheets. (Allow at least 3 inches in between, cookies will spread during baking.)
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool about 3 mins, shape if desired
• optional - melt some semi sweet or dark chocolate and spread along the back

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.

CHOCOLATE ALMOND FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to center of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°. Arrange parchment paper on a large baking sheet and set aside.
• In a medium bowl combine the almonds, flour and orange zest. Toss to combine. Set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, heat together the sugar, salt, butter, whipping cream and honey. Bring to a rolling boil until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the almond mixture. Stir to combine.
• Use a one teaspoon measure to drop exactly 2 teaspoons of batter into mounds at least 3" apart on the cookie sheet. Wet your finger tips with water and flatten out each mound (water prevents your fingers from sticking to the dough). Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Transfer the parchment paper with the cookies onto a wire rack and cool until room temperature. Transfer cookies to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to soak up excess butter.
• Continue making the cookies in this manner using a fresh sheet of parchment paper each time for cookies to bake on.
• When cookies are cooked and cooled, use an offset spatula to smooth the melted chocolate onto one the baking sheet side of the cookies. Top with another florentine round and set aside to harden, several hours.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Stir the almonds, flour and zest in a medium bowl. Stir the sugar, butter, cream, and honey in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the almond mixture. Cool the batter for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Using 2 teaspoons of batter for each cookie, spoon 8 mounds of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly apart (the cookies will spread). Flatten the batter slightly with your finger.
• Bake the cookies until they are lacy and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Gently slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto a rack and cool completely. Transfer the cookies to paper towels. Repeat with the remaining batter, lining the baking sheets with clean parchment for each batch. (The cookies can be made up to this point 2 months ahead. Cool completely, then store airtight in the freezer. Defrost before continuing.)
• Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Spread the melted chocolate over the bottom of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, bottom side down, pressing lightly to adhere. Repeat with the remaining cookies and chocolate.

MILK CHOCOLATE FLORENTINE COOKIES (FASTER NESTLE VERSION)

Steps:

• PREHEAT oven to 375°F Line baking sheets with foil. (a must).
• MELT butter in medium saucepan; remove from heat. Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla extract and salt; mix well. Drop by level teaspoons, about 3 inches apart, onto foil-lined baking sheets. Spread thinly with rubber spatula.
• BAKE for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets on wire racks. Peel foil from cookies.
• MICROWAVE morsels in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Spread thin layer of melted chocolate onto flat side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies to make sandwiches.

LACE COOKIES WITH CHOCOLATE (FLORENTINE COOKIES)

Steps:

• Place 1 1/2 cups of whole raw almonds into a food processor and pulse them on high speed until they chop up into fine crumbs. Then set them aside.
• In a medium saucepan add 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup honey. Stir using a metal whisk.
• Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat off and remove the saucepan from the heat.
• Then stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 3 tbsp all-purpose flour.
• Now, use a spatula to mix in the finely chopped almonds. 
• Then scoop out about 1/2 tablespoon-sized scoops of the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. If you don't have a silicone mat, parchment paper works too. But the mats will result in more even baking.
• Make sure to place each scoop of the lace cookie dough at least 3 inches apart. They will spread a lot when they bake.
• Now preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Then take each piece of cookie batter and roll it out to a ball, and place it half onto the baking sheet.
• Place each baking sheet in the center rack (one at a time). Then bake for 8 minutes making sure to turn once after 4 minutes.
• While the cookies are looking, melt 1 1/2 cups of semisweet chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl until fully melted. Always be sure to do this in intervals with stirring in between to avoid scorching the chocolate.
• Now take 1 Florentine cookie and gently spread a little bit of the melted chocolate on the back of it, then place a similar sized cookie on top. So you want the back of each cookie to sandwich the chocolate in between them.
• Let the chocolate set for about 1-2 hours before serving.

FLORENTINE COOKIES

Steps:

• Position oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 325°F/163°C. Line a large 17 x 12 inch (43 x 30 cm) baking or cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
• To peel the almonds: Over high heat, bring a saucepan of water to a boil.Add the almonds and boil for 1 minute (no longer because they will soften). Drain and rinse with cold water to cool and stop them from cooking. Spread onto a towel and rub them until the peels come off. Dry well.
• Add the almonds to a food processor or blender and pulse until finely chopped.
• In a mixing bowl, stir together the almonds, flour and orange peel.
• To a small saucepan add the sugar, heavy cream corn syrup and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture comes to a rolling boil and the sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to simmer for 1 minute.
• Remove from the heat and add the mixture to the almond mix along with the vanilla. Stir until combined. Allow to cool until it is cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
• Using a teaspoon measuring spoon, portion out 1 teaspoon of dough and roll into a ball using your hands. Roll the balls as round as you can, this will ensure nice round cookies. If the dough seems dry and crumbly, simply put a ball of the dough your warm hand it will soften so you can shape.
• Place the dough balls 6-inches (15 cm) apart on to the prepared baking sheet. They spread to 3-inches (7 ½ cm) in diameter. You'll need to work in batches to fit your baking sheet.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. If they join together, use a sharp knife to separate while they are hot and soft on the baking sheet as they will harden very quickly.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes until they are no longer soft, then transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate and microwave in 10 second increments, stirring in between until melted. Be careful not to burn.
• Take a cooled cookie, spread the chocolate on one side, take another cookie and make a sandwich, press carefully as they are delicate. Repeat with all cookies.
• If you would like to drizzle chocolate on the top, put the melted chocolate into a small ziptop bag. Snip of a very tiny piece of the corner and this will allow you to get the perfect drizzle.
• Allow the cookies to cool and store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

ALMOND-OAT LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Arrange racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 rimless baking sheets with parchment paper. Pulse almonds and oats in a food processor until coarse meal forms. Set aside.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add both sugars and honey; whisk until blended and sugar dissolves, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add nut mixture, flour, and salt; stir until well blended.
• Spoon batter by 2-teaspoon portions onto baking sheets, spacing 2 1/2" apart. Using your fingertips, pat cookies down to 1/4"-high rounds; push in any jagged edges to form smooth circles. Bake, rotating sheets after 6 minutes, until dark golden brown and cookies spread out into a thin layer, 10-12 minutes. Slide cookies on parchment onto a wire rack and let cool.
• Using a pastry brush, brush half of each cookie with melted chocolate. Let stand until the chocolate is set, about 2 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of parchment or waxed paper.

FLORENTINES - CHOCOLATE ALMOND LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F and line cookie sheets with aluminum foil.
• Cream the butter and sugar.
• Stir in the corn syrup and vanilla.
• Stir in the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon; add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk.
• Blend until smooth and stir in the almonds. Drop by heaping MEASURING teaspoonfuls onto the foil-lined cookie sheets - 3 inches apart.
• Bake for 10 minutes until the edges are browned.
• Let cool completely on the foil.
• Then peel away the foil.
• Melt the oil and chocolate (of your choice).
• You can brush the bottom of each cookie with the chocolate or you can sandwich two cookies together.
• Place in a tightly covered container, but do not refrigerate.
• Place waxed paper between layers of Florentines.

FLORENTINES (ITALY)

Steps:

• 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.