Lovely florentines are one of the most elegant cookies you can make. They are so pretty you wouldn’t think they are easy but they really are.
Florentine cookies are delightful at any time of year but make wonderful holiday and Christmas cookies.
They are light, airy and colorful, and look wonderful on a plate of mixed cookies and squares. You can put them on a dessert tray, on a dessert buffet table, or a mixed plate of Christmas goodies.
Florentine cookies are also wonderful with a simple cup of tea or coffee.
I have no idea how they got their name, but these delectable and elegant looking easy cookies are great any time.
They are often found at Christmas and they do make great holiday cookies, but you can easily make up a batch any time you want a fabulous cookie with your coffee or tea.
Florentines
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons margarine, or butter
- 4 tablespoons superfine sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 4 ounces blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
- 3 ounces chocolate, plain
- 1 ounce blanched almonds, cut into long shreds
- 2 ounces candied peel
- 2 ounces walnuts, chopped
- 1 ounce glace cherries
- 2 ounces raisins, sultana
- 3 ounces chocolate, plain
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Put butter and sugar in a saucepan and heat until melted. Stir in all other ingredients except shredded almonds and chocolate.
- Grease and flour 2 large cookie pans and put small heaps of mixture on these, allowing room to spread. Press shredded almonds on top.
- Bake for 20 - 25 minutes in centre of oven. Allow to cool before putting cakes on a cooling rack.
- Melt chocolate in small bowl over a pot of hot water. Coat the bottom of each cookie with melted chocolate or draw or pipe chocolate lines across cakes.
Nutrition
Important Note
In the instructions for each it says to make sure there is a lot of room around the dough piles when you bake the cookies. This is extremely important. These cookies spread out a lot and become very airy, sometimes even a bit holey, when they bake. So leave lots of room and you will be just fine.
And don’t be disappointed if they are holey. That’s how they often are. It makes them beautifully light and when they are dipped in chocolate they are marvelous.
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See all of our cookies recipes and Christmas treats here, all as good as these florentines.
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