Florentine Italian Milk Chocolate Filled Cookies 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.

ITALIAN FLORENTINE COOKIES

Steps:

• Prepare a grill for indirect heat. If using a charcoal grill, build the hot coals on one side only. If using a gas grill, heat one side only to medium-high heat.
• Add the sugar, butter, cream and honey to a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over direct heat. Whisk until the sugar dissolves.
• Stir together the crushed almonds, flour, salt and orange zest in a large bowl, then pour into the sugar mixture and mix to combine. Allow the mixture to cool, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. (The batter can be chilled overnight if you have the time.)
• Invert a cast-iron skillet over direct heat and place a piece of foil on it. Spoon teaspoon-sized amounts of batter onto the skillet, pressing out so the almonds are distributed evenly. Move the skillet over indirect heat and bake until the cookies bubble and caramelize, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the grill and place the foil on a cutting board to allow the cookies to cool faster.
• Once cool, gently peel the cookies off the foil and serve!
• (Alternatively, you can bake the cookies on aluminum foil-lined baking sheets in a 350 degrees F oven until they bubble and caramelize, 10 to 12 minutes.)

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.

MILK CHOCOLATE FLORENTINE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil and grease the foil.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir together the oats, flour, salt and sugar; mix into the melted butter until well blended. Stir in the corn syrup, milk and vanilla. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls 3 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, until medium brown. Cool completely before removing from the cookie sheets. In the microwave or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt chocolate chips, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat. Spread chocolate onto the bottoms of cookies and sandwich them together.

FLORENTINE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and mix in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt until well combined. Drop by level teaspoonfuls 3 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Spread cookies out thin with a rubber spatula.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheets.
• Meanwhile, place chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir frequently, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching, until chocolate is melted and smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Peel foil from cookies. Spread melted chocolate on 1/2 of the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies.

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.

FLORENTINE ITALIAN MILK CHOCOLATE FILLED COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Melt butter in medium saucepan.
• Remove from heat.
• Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla and salt. Mix well.
• Cover cookie sheets with foil.
• Place small drops (about 1 teaspoon) of batter onto the foil. Leave about 3 inches between cookies. Using a spatula, flatten each drop and mold into a flat round shape using the sides of the spatula. Warning: these cookies will expand horizontally a lot! Make sure you leave plenty of room between cookies.
• Bake for approximately 7 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
• Let each sheet of cookies cool completely, approximately 15 minutes.
• Peel foil away from cookies.
• For the filling, combine chocolate, cream and vanilla and melt over a double boiler until completely blended.
• To assemble, spread a layer of chocolate on the flat, shiny side of each cookie. Pair the cookie with alternate cookie of equal size and press together. Allow assembled cookies to cool completely.