Espresso Florentines Recipes

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.

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.

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.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Combine the sugar, butter, honey, and whipping cream in a saucepan. Bring ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat and add the almonds, candied orange rind, bread flour, vanilla, and salt. Mix all ingredients.
• Spoon mixture by tablespoons, 3 inches apart, onto a greased or paper-lined pan.
• Bake for 10 minutes. Roll cooled Florentines into desired shapes.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and whisk in the flour then add the cherries, flaked almonds, pistachios and orange zest.
• Scoop 10 flat tbsp of the mixture onto the baking sheets, leaving room for them to spread. You will need to do these in batches. Bake for 10 mins until golden. Leave to cool for 2 mins until firm enough to lift onto a wire rack. Cool completely. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a simmering saucepan of water or in the microwave in 30 second bursts. Turn the florentines over on the wire rack. Spoon chocolate onto the base of each florentine and gently spread to the edges. When the chocolate is firm enough to hold its shape, use a fork to draw wavy lines across the chocolate. Leave to set and then store in an airtight container.

QUICK FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Heat the sugar, honey and butter with the cream in a small pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add the almond flakes and ground almonds, take off the heat and mix everything well.
• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160/gas 4. Use two teaspoons to form 35 small heaps on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly caramelised to a golden colour. If the mixtures separates, simply put it back into piles with the two teaspoons.
• Let the florentines cool completely. Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave or a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Using a pastry brush, brush the underside of each florentine with chocolate, place chocolate side up and leave to set.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets with shortening and dust with flour.
• Stir cream and sugar together in a bowl. Stir in orange peel, flour, and almonds until combined. Drop batter in teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, keeping each cookie well apart from each other.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack, about 30 minutes.
• Spread bottoms of cooled cookies with melted chocolate using a spatula, or spear cookies on a fork and dip bottoms into chocolate. Let dry, bottoms-up, on waxed paper.

FLORENTINES

Steps:

• In a saucepan, mix together 1/2 cup each of heavy cream and sugar and 3 tablespoons butter and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove it from the heat and stir in 1 1/4 cups finely chopped almonds, 3/4 cup finely chopped candied orange peel, and 1/3 cup flour. Drop the batter from a tablespoon into mounds about 3 inches apart on oiled and lightly floured cookie sheets and flatten each cookie with a wet spatula. Bake the cookies in a moderate oven (350°F) for about 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them stand for about 5 minutes. Remove the cookies to a wire rack, let them cool completely, and spread them with chocolate glaze. Chill them.
• Chocolate Glaze
• Melt 1 ounce each of unsweetened chocolate and sweet cooking chocolate over simmering water. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon honey and stir the glaze until the butter is melted. For an easier glaze, use melted bittersweet chocolate.