Florentine Cookies

5 from 1 vote

Florentines are sweet cookies loaded with sliced almonds and candied fruit & peel. The honey in these cookies gives them a delightful flavour.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: small cookies

Calories: 74kcal

Author: Janice Lawandi

Equipment

Ingredients

175 grams sliced almonds
85 grams chopped candied fruit mix or a mix of candied citrus peel and candied cherries
8 grams bleached all-purpose flour
1 pinch Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
80 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
100 grams granulated sugar
21 grams honey
28 grams unsalted butter

Chocolate coating (optional)

175 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content)
7.5 mL canola oil or coconut oil

Metric - US

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165 ºC). Set three dozen silicone muffin liners (or silicone muffin pans) on a sheet pan (or on two sheet pans depending on how they fit). Set aside
In a large bowl, toss together the almonds, candied fruit and flour with a pinch of salt until everything is evenly mixed and coated. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat together the cream, sugar, honey, and butter. Bring to a boil and cook to 114ºC (237 ºF).
Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately pour the boiling sugar mixture over the nuts and fruit. Stir quickly so that all the ingredients are well mixed and the nuts and fruit pieces are evenly coated.
Scoop heaping teaspoons of the mixture and place in the muffin liners. Don't worry if this seems like it isn't enough to fill the base of the cups necessarily. Bake for about 14 or 15 minutes until the florentines have turned a nice light caramel colour. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and let cool to firm up before you transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined wire rack. Cool completely.
Florentines like other sugar-based candies are sensitive to moisture and humidity so store them in a closed air-tight container. I place a sheet of parchment between the layers of cookies so they don't stick together.

Chocolate coating (optional)

If you decided to dip or coat your baked florentines in chocolate, simply place the chopped chocolate and canola oil in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water (a double boiler). Stir until melted.
Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
Dip each cookie in the warm chocolate and set on the parchment paper.
To get the chocolate to harden faster, place the sheet pan in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Notes

If you don't have enough silicone muffin liners or muffin pans, simply bake a dozen or two at a time, and just keep the rest of the unbaked cookie mixture in the mixing bowl, covered, at room temperature.

If you prefer to bake free-form florentines directly on a Silpat, you should:

before baking: chill the mixture first. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let the mixture chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour or until cold before scooping and baking. This will help them hold their shape
after baking: as soon as you remove the sheet pan from the oven, immediately push the edges back towards the centre of each cookie using a heatproof silicone spatula to tighten the edges if the cookies spread.

For the dark chocolate, I used Cacao Barry Ocoa 70 % dark chocolate.

Nutrition