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1 ½ cups whole raw almonds
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½ cup unsalted butter
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¾ cup light brown sugar
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¼ cup honey
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½ teaspoon vanilla extract
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1 pinch salt
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3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
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1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
Lace Cookies (Florentine Cookies)
These Florentine lace cookies are simple to make and gorgeous to look at. This cookie technique is versatile and adaptable to any kinds of nuts or chocolate. They also keep pretty well so they're perfect if you're looking for an idea for an edible holiday gift for any cookie lover on your list--just stack them up in a box and tie them with a bow!
Prep Time: 50 mins |
Cook Time: 1 hrs |
Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins |
Additional Time: 30 mins |
Servings: 18 |
Yield: 18 chocolate-filled cookies |
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner (such as Silpat®).
Place almonds into the bowl of a food processor; alternate pulsing and running at full speed every few seconds until finely chopped and crumblike. Be careful not to go too far; you don't want them too fine and pasty.
Combine butter, brown sugar, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir a few times and cook until melted and dissolved. Bring to a boil, then carefully remove from the heat.
Add vanilla extract, salt, and flour, and whisk until smooth. Add chopped almonds and mix with a spatula until everything is combined.
Drop eight uniformly sized, rounded spoonfuls of batter (each about 2 teaspoons, or 15 grams) onto the prepared sheet. Fine-tune the cookie shapes and make sure they are evenly spaced.
Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until golden brown and a bit darker around the outsides, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
Remove from the oven and slide the silicone liner off the baking sheet and directly onto the countertop. Allow to sit until cool and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes, then gently peel cookies off the liner. Repeat to bake remaining batches.
Spread melted chocolate over the flat side of one cookie. Place a second cookie, flat-side down, on top to make a sandwich and press very gently to seal. Repeat to form remaining cookies. Let sit until chocolate has firmed up, about 30 minutes.
Chef's Notes:
You can chop the almonds by hand but it will take a lot longer.
You can use any type of nuts, such as walnuts or macadamia nuts, and any type of chocolate you'd like. You can skip the chocolate and eat them as is; this will result in twice as many cookies.
Honey adds a pronounced caramelized, burnt-honey flavor. For a milder, more neutral taste, use corn syrup in place of honey.
If you let your melted chocolate cool a bit and get a little thicker, you can avoid the chocolate squeezing out through the holes of the cookies.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
213 | Calories |
14g | Fat |
22g | Carbs |
3g | Protein |