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These delightful Florentines with crispy edges and a chewy center are the perfect cookie and surprisingly easy to make.
The batter is a simple 3-ingredient caramel topped with flour. Mix in the almond slivers, and now all that is left is to bake them! The best part, though, is the irresistible dark chocolate layer, which adds a rich contrast to the crunchy, nutty caramel.
Serve the Florentines as a sweet treat, top them on ice cream at your next dinner party, or gift them to friends and family. The recipe is versatile too, so feel free to swap in your favorite nuts and dried fruits.
Recipe Tip
Make the cookies for Christmas and other holidays, and add citrus peel for a festive taste.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Florentines
- Chewy, crunchy cookies.
- The perfect treat, and makes a great gift, too.
- Few ingredients.
- Simple recipe.
- Freezer-friendly.
Florentines Ingredients
Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete details!
- Butter: I use salted butter.
- Cane sugar: Or granulated sugar.
- Light golden syrup: Essential to achieving that chewy, crispy texture.
- Plain white flour: Helps bind the caramel to the almonds.
- Almond slivers: Or sliced almonds or flakes.
- Dark chocolate: A good quality dark chocolate makes all the difference. I use 70% cocoa solids.
- Baking essentials: Vanilla paste and sea salt.
How to Make Florentines
- Prepare the caramel dough: Whisk together the butter, sugar, and syrup in a small saucepan on medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add flour, vanilla, and salt.
- Add the almonds: Mix the almond slivers with the batter. Roll into balls weighing 12 grams each.
- Bake the cookies at 160℃ (320℉) fan for 10-12 minutes. Flatten and shape while hot.
- Final touches: Dip into melted dark chocolate and allow to set.
Tips for Success
- Flatten and shape the Florentines while just hot out of the oven.
- Allow them to cool on the hot sheet pan to crisp up.
- Wait till the cookies are cool to dip them in chocolate.
Possible Variations
- Add-ins: Add dried cranberries, dried cherries, raisins, or freshly grated lemon or orange peel.
- Almond slivers: Swap for other nuts such as hazelnuts, pistachios, or walnuts.
- Light golden syrup: Try honey or corn syrup.
- Dark chocolate: Use any chocolate you prefer. Milk chocolate, white chocolate, or flavored chocolate (orange, coffee, pistachio, caramel, etc.) are delicious alternatives.
- Presentation: You can dip the Florentines sideways into the chocolate, or drizzle it on top for a different look. You can even sandwich two cookies together and add the chocolate layer between them!
- Sprinkle with crushed candy canes or chopped nuts.
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature. If your kitchen is hot, store them in the fridge. You can even freeze them and take them out as and when you crave something sweet.
FAQs
Make sure the edges are golden brown when you remove them from the oven, and leave them on the baking sheet for crispier cookies.
Yes, you can swap flour for gluten-free flour or even almond meal.
The two are very similar, and often both terms can be used, however lace cookies can be made with oats, whereas Florentines are nut-based.
Due to the reference to Florence, they sound like they could be from Italy, but they are most likely from France, dating back to the 17th century.
More Sweet Treats
Desserts
Chocolate Palmiers
Snacks
Homemade Graham Crackers
Snacks
Strawberry Snickers
Desserts
Cookie Dough Bites
If you make this recipe or any other recipe on Foodbites, then I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment and rating below.
Florentines
Equipment
Ingredients
- 50 grams butter, salted
- 50 grams cane sugar
- 50 grams light golden syrup
- 50 grams plain flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 150 grams almond slivers, or flaked almonds
- 150 grams dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160℃ (320℉) fan.
- Melt the butter, cane sugar, and syrup in a small pot on medium heat.
- Stir until the sugar dissolves (about 5 minutes).
- Take the sugar mixture off the heat and stir in the flour, vanilla paste, and salt.
- Add the almonds until they are all incorporated into the caramel.
- Measure out 12-gram pieces of dough.
- Roll them into balls.
- Spread the balls out on a large lined sheet pan (I had 12 on one). You will need to bake them in batches.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
- Immediately after they come out of the oven, flatten the tops of the cookies with a spatula or the bottom of a glass.
- Turn the glass over and swirl the cookies in circles to round them. You will need to act fast while they are still pliable.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for five minutes.
- Then transfer the cooled cookie to a baking rack.
- Measure out and bake the remaining cookies.
- Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave or over low heat in a pot.
- Spoon a blob of melted chocolate onto baking parchment, top with a cookie, and press down.
- Allow the chocolate to set.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So good! Loved them! Fantastic recipe.
Yaaay! So happy to hear that!