A batch of soft, chewy and easy Almond Florentines are made up of flaked almonds, glacé cherries, sultanas and mixed with butter and golden syrup. Each biscuit is then spread with a delicious layer of melted dark chocolate on the base. They’re all things sweet, soft, chewy with a crisp edging!
If you’re not familiar with almond florentine cookies, they’re a biscuit/cookie that has several variations depending on what recipe you try. You will find them made with cornflakes and condensed milk however, this almond florentine recipe I’m sharing with you doesn’t use either of those ingredients. It instead uses flaked almonds, butter, and golden syrup.
These can also be considered chocolate florentines as they have a delicious layer of melted dark chocolate on the base. The chocolate adds another level of flavor and texture, it also helps hold them together as they're delicate after baking.
You may also like to try some other festive cookie recipes such as these delightful Cranberry & White Chocolate Cookies or these Chocolate Crinkle Cookies that look like they’ve been dipped in the snow!
Table of Contents
🍒 Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Flaked almonds are a great alternative to corn flakes that are often used in florentines.
- Sweet & juicy glacé cherries are vibrant, festive and tasty.
- Chocolate base adds extra deliciousness and texture.
📋 Ingredient Notes
Flaked almonds: Be sure to use flaked almonds and not slivered almonds.
Glacé cherries: Find these delicious candied cherries from your local supermarket. They’re bright red and shine in these almond florentines.
Sultanas: I highly recommend you use sultanas in this recipe but you can also try substituting them with raisins. If your raisins are large, roughly chop them. You may also like to use currants however, they’re a lot smaller and won't need to be chopped.
Plain all purpose flour: You can swap this for plain gluten free all purpose flour to make these florentines gluten free if desired.
Golden syrup: This is used as it’s sticky and holds all of the dry ingredients together. I have not tried replacing this with an ingredient such as maple syrup as it’s not sticky enough. This is why golden syrup works great. You can also try swapping it for honey.
Dark chocolate: You can replace this with milk chocolate or white chocolate for a fun twist!
🥣 Step By Step Instructions
1) In a medium sized mixing bowl, add almonds, cherries, sultanas and flour. Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until well combined. Set aside.
2) In a small pot, add butter and golden syrup. Place over a low-medium heat and gently melt butter until smooth and well combined with the syrup, making sure it doesn’t come to a boil. Remove from heat.
3) Pour melted butter mixture over dry mixture and stir until well combined and ingredients are coated.
4) Pick up 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture and dollop onto lined tray. Flatten out slightly with the back of a spoon.
5) Repeat with remaining mixture, ensuring to leave about a 5cm - 10 cm gap between each florentine as they do spread out a little.
6) Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden all over and they’re set around the edges.
7) Dollop a teaspoon of melted chocolate onto the flat bottom base of one florentine and gently spread chocolate too cover the base using the back of a spoon or a butter knife. Repeat with remaining florentines.
8) Transfer rack with florentines to the refrigerator so the chocolate can set. Or leave them at room temperature until set.
9) Serve and enjoy!
💭 Tips & Substitutions
- Halve the glacé cherries as they will be too large if used whole. Having larger pieces of fruit and nuts in these florentines will cause crumbling.
- To make gluten free florentines swap the regular flour for plain gluten free all purpose flour.
- Allow florentines to cool for 10 minutes on the tray after baking to firm up as they are very delicate and soft once baked and they will fall apart if handled too early.
- Substitute dark chocolate with milk chocolate or white chocolate for the base if desired.
- Be sure florentines are cooled completely before spreading the melted chocolate on the bases.
- Store in an airtight container, refrigerated, for 1 week - 10 days.
💬 FAQ's
I recommend substituting the golden syrup with honey if desired instead of maple syrup. The syrup needs to have a sticky consistency to stick the dry ingredients together and unfortunately, maple syrup isn’t as sticky as golden syrup or honey.
Yes, you absolutely can! Substitute the glacé cherries for dried cranberries using the same quantity. You don’t have to chop or halve the cranberries either because they’re small.
You don’t have to add the chocolate base to these florentines. You can simply bake the florentines and leave them to cool and enjoy. The chocolate adds another delicious layer but they’re certainly perfect without the chocolate too.
🥄 Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Almond Florentine Recipe
Ingredients
Florentines
- ¾ cup flaked almonds
- ⅓ cup glacé cherries, halved use scissors to make it easy to half the cherries
- ⅓ cup sultanas
- ⅓ cup plain all purpose flour
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoon golden syrup
Chocolate Base
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
Florentines
- Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, add almonds, cherries, sultanas and flour. Mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until well combined. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add butter and golden syrup. Place over a low-medium heat and gently melt butter until smooth and well combined with the syrup, making sure it doesn’t come to a boil. Remove from heat.
- Pour melted butter mixture over dry mixture and stir until well combined and ingredients are coated.
- Pick up 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture and dollop onto lined tray. Flatten out slightly with the back of a spoon.
- Repeat with remaining mixture, ensuring to leave about a 5cm - 10 cm gap between each florentine as they do spread out a little.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden all over and they’re set around the edges. NOTE: the caramelized liquid can leak out of some biscuits during baking, this is normal!
- Remove from oven and allow to cool a little on the tray for 10 minutes to harden and firm up slightly.
- Carefully remove from tray and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Be careful lifting them off the tray as they will be hot. Use a spatula to help you.
- The florentines will be quite soft but they’ll firm up once they cool.
Chocolate base
- Once florentines have cooled completely, melt the chocolate.
- Prepare a double boiler by placing a heat proof mixing bowl over a small/medium sized pot of simmering water.
- Add broken up/chopped chocolate to the bowl.
- Gently melt over a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally until completely melted and smooth. Once chocolate has melted, remove from heat.
- Dollop a teaspoon of melted chocolate onto the flat bottom base of one florentine and gently spread chocolate too cover the base using the back of a spoon or a butter knife. Place back onto wire rack. Repeat with remaining florentines.
- Transfer rack with florentines to the refrigerator so the chocolate can set. Or leave them at room temperature until set.
- Serve and enjoy!
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