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Advanced Cookie Baking
Recipe
1 hr 30 min

Florentine Lace Cookies

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Florentine Lace Cookies
Author: Andrea Geary

Recipe By Andrea Geary

Published on September 6, 2024

The easy part about these cookies is that most of the work takes place in a saucepan. The harder part? Perfecting their delicate lacy shape and glossy chocolate coating.

Time

1 hr 30 min

Yield

Makes 24 Cookies

Why This Recipe Works

These wafer-thin almond cookies have a reputation for being fussy and unpredictable, but we ensure success by making just a few tweaks. Instead of temping the hot sugar mixture that forms the base of the dough, we remove it from the heat when it thickens and begins to brown. We substitute orange marmalade for the usual candied orange peel and corn syrup combo, producing a more complex citrus flavor. These cookies are baked much darker than most cookies, which enhances their delicate crispiness, and a flourish of carefully melted chocolate completes the professional pastry shop effect.

Ingredients

2 cups slivered almonds
¾ cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
½ cup (3 ½ ounces/99 grams) sugar
¼ cup orange marmalade
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon grated orange zest
¼ teaspoon salt
4 ounces (113 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Instructions

Cook along with these step-by-step instructions

step 1 imagestep 2 imagestep 3 imagestep 4 image
  1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Process almonds in food processor until they resemble coarse sand, about 30 seconds.
  2. Bring cream, butter, and sugar to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to thicken, 5 to 6 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to brown at edges and is thick enough to leave trail that doesn’t immediately fill in when spatula is scraped along pan bottom, 1 to 2 minutes longer (it’s OK if some darker speckles appear in mixture). Remove pan from heat and stir in almonds, marmalade, flour, vanilla, orange zest, and salt until combined.
  3. Drop 6 level tablespoons dough at least 3½ inches apart on each prepared sheet. When cool enough to handle, use damp fingers to press each portion into 2½-inch circle.
  4. Bake until deep brown from edge to edge, 15 to 17 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Transfer cookies, still on parchment, to wire racks and let cool. Let baking sheets cool for 10 minutes, line with fresh parchment, and repeat portioning and baking remaining dough.
  5. Microwave 3 ounces chocolate in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring frequently, until about two-thirds melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from microwave, add remaining 1 ounce chocolate, and stir until melted, returning to microwave for no more than 5 seconds at a time to complete melting if necessary. Transfer chocolate to small zipper-lock bag and snip off corner, making hole no larger than 1/16 inch.

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Florentine Lace Cookies

Recipe By Andrea Geary

Published on September 6, 2024

Time

1 hr 30 min

Yield

Makes 24 Cookies

Florentine Lace Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups slivered almonds¾ cup heavy cream4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces½ cup (3 ½ ounces/99 grams) sugar¼ cup orange marmalade3 tablespoons all-purpose flour1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon grated orange zest¼ teaspoon salt4 ounces (113 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Process almonds in food processor until they resemble coarse sand, about 30 seconds.
  2. Bring cream, butter, and sugar to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to thicken, 5 to 6 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to brown at edges and is thick enough to leave trail that doesn’t immediately fill in when spatula is scraped along pan bottom, 1 to 2 minutes longer (it’s OK if some darker speckles appear in mixture). Remove pan from heat and stir in almonds, marmalade, flour, vanilla, orange zest, and salt until combined.
  3. Drop 6 level tablespoons dough at least 3½ inches apart on each prepared sheet. When cool enough to handle, use damp fingers to press each portion into 2½-inch circle.
  4. Bake until deep brown from edge to edge, 15 to 17 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Transfer cookies, still on parchment, to wire racks and let cool. Let baking sheets cool for 10 minutes, line with fresh parchment, and repeat portioning and baking remaining dough.
  5. Microwave 3 ounces chocolate in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring frequently, until about two-thirds melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bowl from microwave, add remaining 1 ounce chocolate, and stir until melted, returning to microwave for no more than 5 seconds at a time to complete melting if necessary. Transfer chocolate to small zipper-lock bag and snip off corner, making hole no larger than 1/16 inch.
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