This recipe for Florentines yields delicately lacy, crisp cookies with a nutty caramel flavor and a hint of vanilla. A little dark chocolate is the perfect finishing touch. And if you've tried to make these cookies and had problems, I am going to show you exactly how to fix them!
Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 large baking trays with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
Add the almonds and pecans to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, but not pasty.
Stir together the finely chopped nuts, flour, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside for now.
Add the sugar, cream, corn syrup, and butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Once it comes to a rolling boil, let it boil for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour the liquid sugar mixture into the dry almond mixture and stir just to combine.
Set aside until the batter is cool enough to handle. (At this point, I needed to add boiling water so the batter took on a “Cream of Wheat consistency”. The amount of water needed will vary, so you have to use a bit of finesse; see the photos in the post above for guidance.)
Use a ½-teaspoon scoop to measure out the batter. Roll each into a ball and flatten it slightly. Arrange the flattened batter balls on the prepared baking sheets. (I bake 15 cookies on each half sheet pan.)
Bake the cookies 1 tray at a time until they’re thin and golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the tray after 5 minutes.
Once the cookies are out of the oven, let them cool completely before using a thin metal spatula to remove them.
Continue cooking the batter this way until all the cookies are baked.
When the cookies are cooled, melt the chocolate.
Sandwich 2 cookies together with a thin smear of chocolate in the center. Don’t use too much chocolate or it will ooze out of the holes in the cookies.
Let the chocolate set before serving or storing these cookies.
Notes
Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes about 65 sandwich cookies. Each cookie is about 2 to 2 ½-inches in diameter. Nutrition information is given for each cookie sandwich.
Arrange Florentine cookies in single layers separated with pieces of wax or parchment paper in an airtight container. And then you can store them at room temperature, in the fridge, or in the freezer.
At room temperature. Store these cookies for up to 3 days at room temperature.
In the fridge. These cookies will stay fresh for about 3 weeks in the fridge.
Stash them in the freezer. You can freeze Florentine cookies for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.