Florentine Cookies

These Florentine Cookies are made with maraschino cherries, almonds, walnuts, and decorated with chocolate. They’re so delicious and beautiful too! Make extra and give. them out as gifts to your loved ones.

Ingredients & Substitutes:

The combination of maraschino cherries (which I’m not a fan of) with the nuts and the chocolate is incredible together. The cherries make it chewy and when the chocolate sets it gets crisp. Give the recipe a try as it is and tweak it afterwards if you’d like.

• Maraschino cherries: substitute your favorite dried fruit: cranberries, apricots, dates, etc.
• Sliced almonds
• Ground walnuts: substitute pecans, hazelnuts, or pistachios
• All-purpose flour: I have not tried any other substitute, but a gluten-free flour should work since it is such a small amount. Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried this and how they turn out.
• Semi-sweet & white chocolate: This combination is magical but if you must, you can use all semi-sweet chocolate (or even dark) and omit the white.

Crisp or Chewy?

There are two ways to make these cookies. Crisp or chewy. Personally, I love the chewy texture of the cookie together with the crisp chocolate.

For a softer, chewier cookie, bake until the edges are a little bit golden. This usually takes about 15 minute son the center rac. However, as we all know, ovens vary so, keep a close eye on them.

For a crisp cookie, bake for about 5 minutes longer or until the entire cookie begins to turn golden. Once the cookies come out of the oven, transfer them to cooling racks. This will keep them crispy.

Helpful Tips:

• Use baking chocolate or chocolate callets/baking bars instead of chocolate chips. Chocolate chips contain ingredients that keep the chocolate thick even when melted. My favorite chocolate is Calebaut (Belgian chocolate) but it can get expensive and hard to find. I usually purchase it at restaurant supply stores. Second best is Guittard and I buy that at my local supermarket.
• Take care not to over heat the chocolate when melting it. This will cause the chocolate to burn and it will require a new batch.
• Chill the cookies in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before decorating them with chocolate.
• Decorate only the cookies that will be consumed within a week. The rest can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months and then decorated as needed.
• Chill the decorated cookies in the freezer for 10 minutes or until the chocolate sets.
• Store leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Serve the cookies with Greek coffee 🙂

I hope that you give these cookies a try. Let me know what you think and if you modified the recipe, how did they turn out? I’ll be back soon with another delicious recipe worth sharing. xxDimitra

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Florentine Cookies

Yield: makes about 24 cookies

These Florentine Cookies are made with maraschino cherries, almonds, walnuts, and decorated with chocolate. They're so delicious and beautiful too! Make extra and give. them out as gifts to your loved ones.

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Ingredients

For the Batter:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 ounces unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/3 cup walnuts
• 1 and 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 1 heaping cup pitted and stemmed maraschino cherries
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

The Chocolate Icing:

• 12 oz (340g) semi-sweet chocolate, melted
• 12 oz (340g) white chocolate, melted

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 °F, 180 °C.

Line 3 baking trays with parchment paper.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, heavy cream, and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Whisk together and set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes.

In a large bowl, add the walnuts, almonds, and flour. Mix together.

Add the syrup to the large bowl and mix together.

Using a mini ice cream scoop, drop a scoop of the batter onto the prepared cookie sheets leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie. Maximun 8 cookies per tray. See video.

Bake each tray for about 15 minutes on the center rack of the oven. They're ready when the edges are golden.

Allow the cookies to cool completely and then freeze them for 15-20 minutes. Freezing the cookies will make them very easy to decorate.

Melt the semi-sweet and white chocolate in two separate bowls.

Spread a thin layer of both chocolates on the back (smooth) side of the cookies.

Use a fork to make wavy lines on the chocolate as decoration.

Freeze the cookies for 15 -20 minutes and serve with coffee. Enjoy!

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator or the freezer.

Notes

Substitute hazelnuts or pecans for the walnuts or almonds.

Freezer Instructions: The baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer (before they're decorated with chocolate) for 2-3 months.

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