These Florentine Cookies are a disc of caramel with glacé cherries, candied peel, toasted almonds, hazelnuts, and coated in rich decadent 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate.
They’re like little pretty discs of edible lace. 🙂
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Hello friends! Did you enjoy Christmas? Christmas was good for us. 🙂
Christmas is not all about the gifts to me. To me, it’s about watching the kiddos excitedly unwrap their presents – the look on their faces is pure joy – visiting family and friends, and generally spending time with loved ones. 🙂
Saying that, Santa did bring me something on my wish list — a double sided cast iron stovetop griddle. One side is ridged for meats and such and the other side is flat and perfect for pancakes, bacon, eggs, and generally anything else.
Noticed how I mentioned pancakes first. I can’t wait to make a whole bunch of pancakes on that bad boy. The sugar fiend in me will never die!
But now that Christmas is over, trying to return back to normal after a little break seems impossible.
The kidlets don’t return back to school until the New Year, so finding some ‘me time’ is like attempting to nail jelly to a wall!
Luckily their new XBOX ONE is keeping them entertained (read: glued) since we recently had a mahoosive snow storm here on Boxing Day (Dec 26) and it’s pretty much turned into a giant ice rink outside.
Speaking of which, I don’t know why the UK seems to stop functioning in freezing weather like this. Canada and other freezing cold places seem to cope just fine. In the UK, literally 5 snowflakes on the ground manages to stop planes, trains, and generally all public transport and delivery services!
Craziness! 😆
I spy with my little eye… do you see me in the photo above? And before you ask, yes I’m in un-matching PJ’s! :p
All this festivities and cold weather still has me in the holiday mood though, and what could be more warming and indulgent than these rich dark chocolate coated Italian Florentine cookies?
If you’ve never heard of Florentine cookies before, florentines are little discs of caramel made from the butter, sugar, and golden syrup (light corn syrup), with dried cranberries, cherries, candied peel, and nuts.
They just scream winter warming comfort food to me.
This Florentine cookie recipe was featured on this years Great British Bake Off. Mary Berry was explaining to the contestants that a Florentine cookie should look like lace. I remember that one contestant that thought this should mean that her Florentine cookies should be perfectly round and used a round cookie cutter and cut off the lacy appearance – Oopsies!
No cookie cutters needed here! And lacy they are, like beautiful little edible lace doilies on a plate. :).
Not to mention the wonderful crisp texture of the nuts and caramel together, with added decadence of the smothered [70% cocoa solids] rich dark chocolate.
Mmmmm! Beautiful heaven on a plate.
Florentine Cookies
Yield: 18 florentine cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
These Florentine biscuits are a disc of caramel with glacé cherries, candied peel, toasted almonds, hazelnuts, and coated in rich decadent 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate.
Ingredients:
- 50g (1¾ oz) butter
- 50g (1¾ oz) demerara sugar
- 50g (1¾ oz) golden syrup
- 50g (1¾ oz) plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 25g (1 oz) dried cranberries or glacé cherries, finely chopped
- 50g (1¾ oz) candied peel, finely chopped
- 25g (1 oz) almonds, finely chopped
- 25g (1 oz) walnut pieces, finely chopped
- 200g (7oz) dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Line 3 baking trays with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, set aside.
- Add the butter, sugar and golden syrup to a small saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat and add the flour, chopped cranberries or cherries, candied peel, and nuts to the pan. Stir well to mix.
- Spoon 6 teaspoons onto each of the baking trays, allowing room for spreading during baking.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden-brown. Allow to cool in their trays before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Temper the chocolate then spread a little melted chocolate over the flat base of each florentine and leave to cool slightly before marking a zigzag in the chocolate with a fork. Leave to set, chocolate side up on a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.
Notes:
Florentines require a precise amount of ingredients, therefore I recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out your ingredients.
Happy New Year
I can’t believe this is my last post for 2014. As we blast full force into 2015, I wanted to wish each and every one of you a wonderful New Year.
See you in 2015! *gasp*
Much love,
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Wow, Lisa …they are elegant! Yummy! Pinning them for sure.
PLEASE come by my party tonight and share them, OK?
Happiest of New Years to you.
Love
Sinea
Thanks so much, Sinea. I stopped by and submitted my last 2 posts to your party the other day – thanks for the reminder. 🙂
These look amazing! I just LOVE florentines!
Me too! Can you believe this was my first time trying/making them?
Thanks for stopping by, Jess.
I always love florentines! They were on my list this year but never happened. GORGEOUS!
Me too. I love how crunchy and flavoursome they are. Can’t wait to see your version.
Thanks for stopping by sweetie.
These are just beautiful! Almost too pretty to eat! Almost 😉
You think? The prettiness didn’t stop my 3 kidlets from gobbling them down though!
Thanks for stopping by, Jocelyn.
These are a work of art! I love how you’ve combed the chocolate into a pretty design. And the flavors sound incredible! So glad you had a lovely Christmas, and hopefully you can get back into the swing of things soon. My kids go back on the 5th so I’m sitting tight ’til then!
You’re too sweet! We had a lovely Christmas, thanks. My kids went back today too. I can breathe again! 😆
Thanks for stopping by sweetie.
florentines are soooooooooooooooo unbelievably delicious!
Aren’t they just? 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Kayle.
These look and sound incredible! I love the wave you made in the chocolate too. Simple and elegant!
I love the chocolate touch too. Makes them extra special with the little wave, in my opinion. 😆
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a sweet comment, Jolena.
These are really cute! I haven’t seen anything like this before.
hi, its very delicious and looks beautiful too, could honey be used in place of golden syrup?
Hi Pooja, Thanks for your kind comment, they are very delicious indeed. 🙂 In regards of the golden syrup, if you can’t find that in your area (I think it’s a British thing), then the best substitution would be light (clear) corn syrup or glucose syrup. I haven’t tried with honey myself, but if you do make them with honey, do let me know how they turn out so I can update the recipe.
Thanks for stopping by. Happy baking.