I’ve been sitting on this recipe for almost a full year. How does that even happen? The truth is, I made these cookies on January 1st 2012 (I know, what killer timing to make cookies), but I figured posting a cookie recipe on the first day of the year was akin to posting a salad on Halloween Day.
Well, maybe I was wrong because we certainly enjoyed these, January 1st or not! Now that these cookies are back “in season”, I decided to dig up the recipe and photography. Only I couldn’t find the recipe and was less than thrilled with my photography, so I almost started the whole thing from scratch. Luckily, I found the recipe buried deep in a stack of chicken scratch recipe trials in some random drawer of my desk. Yesssss.
Eric, this is proof that your crazy wife is much more organized than you think. So there.
Never one to resist playing around with a recipe, I ended up tweaking the ingredients slightly, swapping the cane sugar for coconut sugar and reducing the amount of sugar and vegan butter overall. The oven temp was also scaled back from 325F to 275F because I had problems with the edges browning too quickly in my January batch. A low heat and slightly longer bake time solved this problem.
Even with all these changes, they still turned out just as good as I remembered – crispy, refreshing, and nutty with a hint of orange and chocolate which is just so nice this time of the year.
How to make:
I used sliced blanched almonds from the bulk food section.
Finely chop the almonds, but it’s ok if some big pieces remain. Mix the chopped almonds with the rest of the dry ingredients.
Now heat the wet ingredients in a pot and bring it to a low boil. Remove it from the heat and stir in the dry ingredients until well combined.
Now we’re going to let this mixture sit for 10-15 minutes to cool off.
Once it’s cool to touch, shape the dough into tiny 1/2 tablespoon balls, spacing them at least 3 inches apart on the baking sheet because they spread a lot. I fit 10 cookies on my baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 275F, rotate the pan, and bake for another 7-9 minutes until golden. For my first batch, I didn’t shape the balls very well, so the cookies came out quite uneven. If you want more uniform cookies, be sure to really roll the balls into a nice even shape. It helps to wet your fingers too!
After cooling the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes, transfer them to a cooking rack. Now you can decorate the cookies with melted chocolate and icing sugar if you wish. They really are a beautiful holiday cookie, aren’t they?
Vegan Florentines (Almond Lace Cookies)
Yield
27 Cookies
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Traditional Florentine cookies made vegan and gluten-free! Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis.
Ingredients
- 1 & 3/4 cup (190g) sliced blanched almonds
- 3 tbsp (25g) gluten-free all-purpose flour (or other flour)
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 1/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1/2 cup (85g) coconut sugar (or cane sugar or Sucanat)
- 1/4 cup (40g) non-dairy buttery spread (I used soy-free Earth balance)
- 2 tbsp brown rice syrup
- 2 tbsp full-fat canned coconut milk (use the cream from the top of the can)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4-1/3 cup dark chocolate, melted
- 1/2 tsp coconut oil
- Confectioner’s sugar/icing sugar, to garnish
Directions
- Preheat oven to 275°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Finely chop sliced almonds and place in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the rest of the dry ingredients (flour, orange zest, salt, sugar).
- In a medium-sized pot, add the wet ingredients (non-dairy butter, brown rice syrup, coconut cream) and stir until combined. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a low boil. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Set aside to cool for about 10-15 minutes.
- Wet fingers and shape dough into tiny 1/2 tablespoon balls. Roll with hands into a uniform ball and place on baking sheet, at least 3 inches apart. Repeat until you can’t fit anymore on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 275°F, rotate the pan, and bake for another 7-9 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the pan and then carefully transfer to cooling rack. Repeat baking process for the rest of the dough. When cookies are cool, place on paper towel and press lightly to absorb any butter on the bottom of the cookie.
- Melt chocolate and coconut oil over low heat. Drizzle cookies with melted chocolate (a fork works fine for this) and sift with icing sugar. Chill in the freezer until hardened, Cookies also freeze well.
Tip:
- You can substitute the coconut sugar for cane sugar or even Sucanat sugar.
- I have not tried subbing the coconut cream, but you might be able to replace it with non-dairy creamer or even a splash of almond milk. I wouldn’t add much because you don’t want the batter to be too wet.
- I have not subbed the brown rice syrup, but if you eat honey you can sub it with that. I don’t know how maple syrup or agave would turn out. If you try it please leave a comment and let us know.
- I used an orange flavoured chocolate for this cookie and it paired nicely with the orange zest. If you aren’t an orange fan, feel free to leave out the zest or try subbing it with a touch of lemon or lime zest or even with a bit of almond extract instead of zest.
- I used gluten-free all-purpose flour in this recipe, but you can also use whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose, spelt, etc.
- Since I could only bake 10 cookies at one time, this process took some time. You might be able to bake two cookie sheets at once, just be sure to rotate the pans accordingly and adjust the baking time if necessary.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)If you’re looking to pair it with something for dessert, they go quite nicely with coconut ice cream! Traditionally, they can be served with tea/coffee, crumbled over pudding, or served as sandwich cookies filled with ice cream, whipped cream, or jam. If you are looking for a way to use up coconut cream, this may be a good option. Our favourite way to enjoy them seems to be with a hot cup of tea for a snack. You can never go wrong with that. They also freeze well and are fantastic straight out of the freezer (actually we might have preferred them that way).
Happy baking!
Can I use the Silpat sheet for these instead of using parchment paper? Or did you use the parchment paper for a reason? Thanks! Amber : )
Yes I think a Silpay would work just fine…might slightly increase the baking time though but just keep an eye on it
Well, I think I found my answer in the above posts, but I made these last night and they didn’t spread at all. The taste was terrific and we certainly don’t mind eating tasty almond clusters, but no spreading. The only thing different I did was use almond milk instead of coconut because my coconut milk was frozen hard from forgetting it in the freezer (whipped topping attempt.) Perhaps chopping the nuts and turning up the heat would help as another commenter suggested. Thanks!
I’m sorry to hear that Sally, Im not sure why it didn’t spread for you! Maybe a longer bake time would have helped?
I made 2 batches of these so far (one more to go) as cookie gifts… they are AMAZING. Everyone loves them. Every single recipe I try of yours just comes out amazing, Angela. Thank you thank you!! I feel like a baking goddess! Haha :)
hah thank you Catherine, you are a baking goddess!!
Hi Angela! Thanks so much for this awesome recipe–I made them last night and they were a-mazing. Just one question for you–did you purposely chop the almonds by hand instead of putting them in a food processor? I put them in a food processor, but I’m wondering if the texture was different than it was supposed to be. When I baked my cookies, they really spread a lot so that there were some holes, but yours look like they stuck together really well. But I also subbed honey for the brown rice syrup and boiled the butter, syrup and cream for maybe 30 seconds after it came to a low boil (instead of taking it off right away). So I’m not sure why they looked the way they did!
In any case, they tasted great and were so pretty. I loved them!
Mmm… here are a pic of my version with a link back here!
http://positiveponderings.blogspot.ca/2012/12/almond-florentines.html
I’m so happy you enjoyed the cookies! Thanks for letting me know :)
These are so yummy! I used agave nectar instead of the brown rice syrup. The first pan did not spread out much, so I flattened with a water dipped fork near the end of the baking. Worked great this way! Will definitely make again!
These are now my favorite cookie recipe! They are in my freezer calling to me, but I will save them to share for Christmas Eve. Thank you, Angela, for presenting such wonderful recipes. I know you must spend hours perfecting them before presenting them and I so appreciate your hard work.
Wow, these cookies are amazing. I adapted them slightly because a friend of ours can’t have coconut butter and I can’t get Earth Balance in the Netherlands. That’s why I replaced it with a little bit oatly cream. That seems to work just fine and they look and taste wonderful. I loooove the way my house smells too, so …Christmas :). Thanks Angela!
These look amazing & I can’t wait to try them out. One question – could I use almond flour/meal for this recipe? Would I need to make any adjustments in the recipe if I do?
By the way I stumbled across your blog just today & I love it!
Thank you :) Im not sure about the almond flour…it could work? Let me know if you try it out!
hi- thx for the great recipe! at 275 my cookies didn’t spread at all- not evan after 10 + 7 minutes so had to flatten them with a bottom of a glass (dipped in water or it stuck to glass) and then i upped it to 300 and baked for 8 more minutes and that did it! nothing better than toasted almonds- such a great treat xoxo
yea! hope this signs me up for your emails!
thanks for all the substitution work ;)
Oh my gosh…these are really delicious. My daughter is a vegan and it is passover next week so thought I would try them. I didn’t have blanched almonds so I used slivered and ground them in the processor. I can only imagine how much lovelier they would be with the larger pieces of sliced almonds but even without, they are chewy and just the right amount of sweetness! Thank you for posting these winners!!!
question, do these just spead out flat on their own? also how brittle are they? If I need to transport these would I be able to just take them in a plastic baggie? I was thinking of making these for the church bake sale.
Thank you.
Hey Dee, Yes they spread out on their own. They are quite brittle and I wouldn’t think they would transport very well without a lot of TLC.
These are absolutely delicious. Thank you so much! Littler cookies = you can have more in one sitting, right?!
How many cookies total does this recipe make (if made out of 1/2 TB balls)?
Hi! I just made these and while the dough/batter was delicious, they didn’t flatten out at all! Just stayed in the round ball shapes…any idea where I went wrong? I didn’t make any substitutions. Thanks!
Hey Stephanie, I’m not sure – I’ve made these a few times and they always spread out a ton! Sorry yours didn’t…what kind of flour did you use? Im wondering if that was it.
I used spelt, skipped the choc + icing sugar and accidentally just ate FLORENTINES for dinner! Woops :s ha ha.. The orange zest just brings this recipe to a whole new level!
Would like to sub out the butter for something a little cleaner/leaner, any suggestions? Would coconut oil work or no?
THANK YOU for the recipe, will definitely share :-)
Hey Brooke, Glad you enjoyed them! I haven’t tried this recipe with coconut oil so I can’t say for sure. I would guess that it would be fine though. Enjoy!
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.
persnicketypanhandler.blogspot.com/2014/01/almond-lace-cookies.html
I must make these! I’m accustomed to seeing them with slices of red glace cherries in them, it adds colour and a bit more sweetness so I’m going to add them to mine when I make these :) Thanks for the beautiful recipe
Going to try these today. Off to market and thank you for sharing.
So I know I’m late to the game, but… I made these tonight as a treat to go with brunch tomorrow and can’t wait to have these on hand with some coffee and fruit. I substituted 1.5 tbsp of maple syrup and a pinch of brown sugar for the brown rice syrup and they seemed to do just fine! Looking forward to having the prettiest, winteriest treats to bring to brunch tomorrow. Thanks Angela!
Hi!
How many does one batch make?
Thanks Angela!
Hi Diana, one batch should make about 27 cookies. If you make them, I hope you enjoy! :)
My cookies didn’t come out crispy – they were soft and chew. Any suggestions as to how to get a crispy cookie?
Hey Jay, My guess is that the cookies might benefit from a bit more bake time. Ovens can vary greatly. I would try just a bit longer, while keeping an eye on them, if you make them again.
I would love to get on your mailing list!
Just made them to get into the Christmas spirit, they are delicious!! And i feel so fancy eating them :) Thank you!
Aww that’s so cute! haha. I feel fancy when I eat these too ;)
Does it matter if the gluten free all purpose mix has xantham gum?
Wondering if baking at 275 is a typo? Tried that and they spread out and turned 6 cookies into one sheet full. Weird! I reshaped them when hot and they taste wonderful. I will try again at 375. Definitely will make again. Sugar is temperamental, i must have messed up along the way.