Does anyone else feel like getting back into the swing of things after Thanksgiving is just rough? I’ve definitely been dragging my feet when it comes to accomplishing anything resembling work/real life. I just want to cruise straight into the winter holidays, bake cookies, drink peppermint mochas and ignore the fact that life isn’t a perpetual weekend. It’d be nice, right?
For four days I pretty much ignored any and all deadlines and boring non-holiday stuff, and it was a lot of fun to just get back in the kitchen and bake all day. I made my super-soft dinner rolls for Thanksgiving, plus a chocolate tart that IMO rivals this one any day. I’ll (hopefully) share that sometime once I get a chance to make it again and iron out the kinks. And you better bet I made some cornbread and honey butter and ate it all weekend long – recipe for that coming very soon. It was a pretty fun and food-filled weekend and I’m just having a little bit of a hard time getting my butt in gear again.
The only thing getting me through the next few weeks until the upcoming holidays is the promise of a break ahead and all the holiday-themed recipes I get to share with you guys, first of which is these cookies which I am SO excited about. Florentines (aka Lace Cookies) have always been one of the few store-bought cookies that I actually liked, and I initially had no idea how they were made or how in the world they got their thin, lacy pattern and delicate snap. I remember having one in Paris at À la Mère de Famille that was seriously incredible, but it didn’t really occur to me until earlier this year that I could make these gorgeous cookies at home. But I can! And I did! And you can too! It’s actually simpler than I thought it would be, too.
Basically, lace cookies are made by cooking a sugar syrup and adding a mixture containing very finely chopped nuts to create a dough that spreads into a thin, crispy cookie as it bakes, with each little bit of nut held together by the sweet toffee-like laces of the cooked sugar. Once they’ve cooled after baking, you drizzle them with dark chocolate, and maybe even sandwich two together with chocolate in the middle, and the result is total cookie perfection. I also like to add some almond extract to the dough because it melds so well with the caramelly, almond cookie base and the bittersweet chocolate. These are on a completely different spectrum from typical thick and chewy cookies, but it’s the one instance where a thin, crisp cookie is exactly what I’m looking for. The complex combination of flavor and texture in these cookies is just beyond what words can explain.
These florentines are without a doubt a cookie you should add to your Christmas baking list, if not because they’re so good then because they’re totally impressive! (But fair warning, once you try them you might not want to give them away!)
Dark Chocolate Almond Florentine Cookies
Thin, lacy, toffee-like almond cookies sandwiched and drizzled with bittersweet chocolate make a fancy, impressive, and sublime holiday treat!
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 11 minutes
- Yield: about 54 large cookies or 27 cookie sandwiches 1x
Ingredients
- 5 ounces (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 10 1/2 ounces (1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar
- 2 1/8 ounces (1/4 cup) heavy cream
- 3 1/8 ounces (1/4 cup) light corn syrup
- 12 1/4 ounces (3 1/2 cups) slivered almonds
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 5/8 ounces (6 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 12–15 ounces bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate, melted (preferably tempered)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine butter, sugar, cream, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Allow butter to melt and sugar to dissolve, stirring occasionally, and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat.
- Process almonds in a food processor to the consistency of fine gravel (kinda like Nerds candies, but not as fine as almond meal). Whisk together with cocoa, flour, and salt in a bowl until evenly combined.
- Add vanilla and almond extracts to the sugar mixture, stirring in to combine, and then mix in the dry ingredients until everything is evenly combined. Cool until thick enough to scoop and work with (this may only take a few minutes).
- Scoop dough by tablespoons and shape into small balls. Lay out on a separate piece of parchment paper.
- Place 6 cookies at a time on the parchment-lined baking sheet to bake, well spread apart with a few inches between each cookie and the sides of the baking sheet. Bake on middle rack of oven for 11-12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time, until cookies are golden. Cool for a few minutes and then use a 2 3/4″ – 3″ round cookie cutter to stamp circles in cookies. You can either tear off excess cookie around cutter while cookies are soft or somewhat firm, or wait until the cookies have crisped up and snap off the excess around the stamped indentation. One method or the other might work better depending on how well the cookies are stamped with the cutter. Continue baking cookies 6 at a time, alternating baking sheets to cool between batches, until all cookies are baked and cut.
- Once all cookies have baked and cooled, spread melted chocolate over half and top each with a second cookie. Drizzle any excess chocolate over the cookie sandwiches.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator. I found that the chocolate cookies had a better crunch once stored in the refrigerator overnight.
Notes
*For smaller cookies, scoop dough by 1/2 tablespoons and bake 9 to a sheet for 10-11 minutes. Use a 2 1/2″ round cookie cutter to stamp after baking.
Recipe Adapted From: Food Network
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Who else is super excited about holiday baking? I want to know what’s on your t0-bake list!
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Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
I love Florentines, these look scrumptious!
Ashley says
Oh man I hear ya. I cannot for the life of me get motivated with any of my day job stuff. All I want to do is bake and watch Christmas movies! I’ve always wanted to make florentines at home – these look great!
alexandra says
I know right? December is just NOT a good month for me when it comes to motivation – unless it’s food-related ;)! You should try making florentines though, it’s fun and they’re just as good as anything you can buy!
Dina says
they turned out perfectly and look delish!
Liz @ Life Made Sweet says
I love Florentines!! One of the only thin and crispy cookies I actually like! I totally hear on motivation! I feel like everyone should just have December off!
Colleen (Souffle Bombay) says
These are GORGEOUS!!
alexandra says
Thanks so much!
Ala says
You don’t have to warn me–I *never* want to give away my lace cookies ;) I forgot all about these little babies when I was making a batch of holiday giveaways this year, but this is most definitely on my list for the next holiday gathering. Thanks for sharing!
alexandra says
Or you could just make them for yourself this year! I would call that a good plan ;)
Tieghan says
These look insanely good!! I love the dark chocolate!
alexandra says
Thanks Tieghan! They’re a favorite cookie of mine, for sure!
Susan says
If I’m starting with groud nuts what measurement should I use? I was lucky enought to use 1/2 a bag of ground almonds for another recipie and they would be perfect for this I just want to get the measurement down I don’t want too much almond to toffee ratio. Thanks for any help.
alexandra says
To be honest, I can’t say for sure what the equivalent would be if your nuts are already ground. Of course, if you have a kitchen scale, the measurement by weight would be the same, but volume-wise, I don’t know. Also, make sure the almonds you plan to use are JUST finely chopped and not almond meal, which is very fine and flour-like.
Chopping up slivered almonds in the food processor as described in the recipe is really fast anyway!
Persnickety says
A great recipe I can’t wait to try out. I love Almond Lace Cookies and those brave enough to try them! I wish more would.
I came up with my own version of a Almond Lace Cookies, or as I sometimes call them, Broomstick cookies. While different from your own, I think mine is a unique take on the dish. I’m new to the Food Blog scene and would love some feedback from a pro like you. Check out my recipe if have time.
http://persnicketypanhandler.blogspot.com/2014/01/almond-lace-cookies.html
alexandra says
Lace cookies look complicated, but they’re really not that hard to make at all, right? I hope you get a chance to try the recipe at some point!
MelanieR says
Making these now. My oven tends to be on the hot side… at 325, for 10 min and they are PERFECT! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
alexandra says
I’m so glad you tried them! It’s one of my favorite recipes, especially because it’s so unique. Hope you enjoyed them as much as we did. :)
Annie says
I used this recipe and they turned out great! I didn’t use a cookie cutter to shape them because I thought their natural form looked pretty and rustic. But, they did come out a bit greasy from the butter… Anyone know how to avoid that? I set them on paper towels to blot out the oil but they still left my fingers greasy.
alexandra says
I didn’t have a problem with greasiness myself, so I’m wondering if perhaps you somehow skimped on the dry ingredients (almond, cocoa, and flour)? That, or is it possible that you didn’t bring the sugar mixture to a full rolling boil?
I’m glad you liked the cookies regardless!
Joan says
I just baked these and they taste delicious! However, they’ve been cooling for an hour and are quite chewy. Are they supposed to be? I was expecting them to be crispy. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
alexandra says
Hmm… they should definitely be crispy! Did you definitely bring the sugar mixture to a rolling boil? If you did, maybe you just needed to cook them for a minute or two longer in your oven. For this batch though, try putting them in the fridge overnight; that should help them crisp up. :)
sheila says
Hi! I’ve been wanting to make lace cookies. I was wondering if can replace honey with light corn syrup? Will it turn out to be the same?
alexandra says
I haven’t tested it so I really can’t say for sure. Typically in a recipe like this where you’re cooking a sugar syrup, corn syrup is your best bet. In some cases, honey may work though, so if you give it a try, please let me know how it goes!
sheila says
Unfortunately, mine did not work out :( I was so disappointed and I am not sure what went wrong. The cookie was still sticky when I took it out from the oven and when I let it cool, it just sticks to the parchment paper and I can’t even remove it. So I made another batch and let it in the oven a bit longer but the sides was a bit burnt and was chewy on the inside :(
alexandra says
I’m so sorry to hear that Sheila! It’s hard for me to determine what went wrong without being there in your kitchen with you. ;) My only thought: did you bring the sugar mixture to a full rolling boil as directed? Other than that, it might help to have a kitchen scale so you can measure all your ingredients by weight for more precision.
Pam says
How far ahead can you make these and would you keep them in the frig.
I was hoping they would stay crisp for 3 days.
They look amazing and can’t wait to start making them.
alexandra says
I think they would easily stay crisp for 3 days in the fridge. You could always make the cookies ahead of time and add the chocolate later, but I would think either way would work well.
anns says
hi i just made these last night. it came out perfect but i left it overnight at room temp but not in an airtight container.. the cookies got so soft they all got stuck.. could it be that it was just left out in the open?
alexandra says
Possibly. I would suggest putting them in the fridge next time to prevent problems with crispness.
Rp says
So I finally got around to making these and boy was I excited! I love these! However, being in the rush that I constantly am in (I probably should have put down my textbook and read the recipe more carefully), I overcooked the final part – with the entire mixture. The bottom of the pan burned but the mixture was alright. As a result, I quickly turned the heat off and started to let it cool. Once I started baking, the cookies were turning crisp within 5 minutes. I couldn’t bake the cookies fast enough and the mixture was hardening quicker and quicker. My mixture was to the point where baking the balls was not allowing them to flatten, instead, they just stayed balls. I gave up and just left the cookie balls to cool overnight and im telling you, they turned out just like my favorite bakery’s lace cookies!!!!!! I was so excited to learn that! My plan is to next time do the same thing but to spread the mixture on a pan, use my cookie cutter and just let it cool because the unbaked ones tasted better than the first two batches I got to baking!
alexandra says
If you cooked the mixture too much that could definitley be why the cookies weren’t flattening. Unless you were to overcook it again next time, leaving them unbaked would probably mean you’d have a batch of sticky cookies! :o But I’d love to hear what you end up doing and how it turns out!
Mary says
Just made these and they turned out beautifully. I substituted orange zest for almond extract, but that’s entirely a matter of taste. I also decided to forego the cookie cutter because I love the way the lacy edges look. Thanks for a great recipe!