My husband is Italian and so we have a great love for Italy and have been fortunate to have been to many cities there many times. Lake Como and Florence are our favorite and so are Florentine cookies that originated there in the Renaissance period.
What are Florentine Cookies?
Sometimes called lace cookies, Florentine cookies are made of finely chopped almonds with a hint of orange and vanilla, then baked into lace cookies. You can eat them plain or sandwich with chocolate.
Florentine Cookie variations
I recently posted a White Chocolate Florentine Cookies (picture above) and for Christmas, you may want to try my festive Peppermint Florentine Cookies (picture below). Our love of this Italian delicacy came about on one of our annual trips to Carmel-by-the-Sea in Central Coast California and they are one of their signature dessert items. So after many years of eating them, I finally have my own Florentine cookie recipe.
Candied orange peel
The candied orange is a delicious addition, as would many dried fruits. You can also leave it out and they will still taste good.
How to make Florentine Cookies
- To a bowl, mix almonds, flour and orange peel.
- To a pan add sugar, heavy cream corn syrup and butter. Melt and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the melted mixture to the almond mix along with the vanilla. Stir until combined. Allow to cool until it is cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.
- Roll 1 teaspoon measurements of the dough into balls.
- Bake until they spread into lace cookies
- Add melted chocolate to 1 half of the cookies, then top with the other half. How to make candied orange peel:
3 oranges 2 cups granulated sugar, plus extra for rolling ¾ cup (180 ml) water
Cut the top and bottom off the oranges. Score the skin from top to bottom around the orange and peel. Cut the peel into strips, about ¼-inch ( ½ cm ) wide. Add water to a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Add the orange slices and blanch (boil) for 2 minutes. Drain, discard water and repeat 2 more times. This is to reduce the bitterness. In the same saucepan, whisk the sugar and the 3/4 cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and is simmering. Add the orange peels and reduce heat to continue to simmer until the peels are translucent, about 45 minutes. DO NOT STIR. This will produce sugar crystals, but you can swirl the pan if needed to move the peels around. Drain the peels onto parchment paper and discard the syrup. Roll the peels in the sugar and allow to dry on a rack for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. Store in an air tight container until needed.
Florentine Cookie making tips:
When preparing the dough to make the cookies, make the balls as round as possible, this will make nice round cookies. The dough will spread as they bake. To drizzle chocolate over the cookie, put the melted chocolate into a small ziploc bag. Snip of a very tiny piece of the corner and pipe over the cookie. This will allow you to get the perfect drizzle.
The recipe calls for peeled almonds, which isn’t an easy thing to do so I have a post here on how to do that, How to peel almonds. This recipe yields 30 sandwiched cookies that are 2-inches/5 cm in diameter. If you can find already peeled almonds, skip step 2
