Almond Florentines

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven and line your pans

   Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F (175°C). Line two heavy baking sheets with parchment. Don't grease the pans and don't skip the parchment — this batter is essentially caramel, and it will weld itself to bare metal. Silicone mats work too, though they bake a slightly thicker, chewier cookie than parchment does.

2. 2

   Toss the almond mixture

   In a medium bowl, stir together the sliced almonds, flour, candied orange peel if you're using it, and orange zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest through the dry ingredients so it distributes evenly instead of clumping. Coating the almonds in flour first is what keeps them suspended in the caramel rather than sinking into a layer at the bottom.

3. 3

   Boil the caramel base

   Combine the butter, both sugars, cream, honey, and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir steadily until the butter melts and the mixture looks smooth and glossy, with no grittiness when you drag the spoon across the bottom. Bring it up to a full rolling boil — one you can't stir down — and let it boil for 90 seconds, then pull it off the heat immediately. That short boil drives off just enough water to set the cookies crisp; boil much longer and you're making toffee.

4. 4

   Fold in the almonds and rest the batter

   Stir the vanilla into the hot caramel, then add the almond mixture all at once and fold gently until every almond is coated. Be unhurried here — aggressive stirring snaps the slices into shards and you lose the lacy look. Let the batter sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice. It will thicken from pourable to scoopable, which is exactly what you want.

5. 5

   Scoop and flatten

   Drop level tablespoons of batter onto the sheets, no more than six per pan, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. These spread to roughly triple their size, so be generous with the gaps. Dampen your fingertips with water and press each mound into a flat disc about 2 inches across — wet fingers won't stick to the caramel. Keep the remaining batter at room temperature between batches; if it stiffens too much, warm the pan over low heat for 30 seconds.

6. 6

   Bake until the whole cookie bubbles

   Bake one sheet at a time for 9 to 11 minutes. You're looking for the bubbling to spread all the way to the center and the edges to turn a deep amber — not pale gold. Pull them even if the centers still look molten and loose; they set as they cool. Underbaked Florentines stay sticky and bendy, so push them a minute further than instinct tells you.

7. 7

   Reshape, then cool completely

   If you want tidy rounds, wait about 60 seconds and then nudge each cookie's edges inward with a 3-inch ring cutter or an offset spatula while the caramel is still pliable. Let them firm up on the pan for 5 minutes, then slide the whole sheet of parchment onto a wire rack. Cool fully before you move them — a warm Florentine will tear or fold.

8. 8

   Melt the chocolate

   Put about two-thirds of the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over barely simmering water, or microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring between each. Once it's melted and just warm to the touch, take it off the heat and stir in the remaining third until smooth. Seeding it this way keeps the chocolate glossy and snappy at room temperature instead of dull and soft.

9. 9

   Coat the bottoms and set

   Flip the cooled cookies upside down and spread a thin layer of chocolate across each flat underside. Drag a fork through in wavy lines for the traditional combed finish, then set them chocolate-side up on parchment until fully firm, about 1 to 2 hours at cool room temperature. Resist the fridge — chilling makes the chocolate bloom and draws moisture into the cookie.

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Baker's Tips

• 1.

  The 15-minute batter rest is the single biggest factor in cookies that hold their shape. Scoop it hot and it floods across the pan into one continuous sheet.

• 2.

  Bake one sheet at a time. These go from perfect to burnt in about 45 seconds, and you can't watch two trays at once.

• 3.

  Reuse the same parchment for every batch — the cookies release cleanly and the residual caramel does no harm.

• 4.

  Humidity is the enemy. On a damp day the cookies soften within hours; bake them on a dry day or store them with a silica packet.

• 5.

  Use chopped bar chocolate rather than chips. Chips contain stabilizers that keep them from flowing into a thin, even coat.

• 6.

  For an oat lace variation, swap 1 cup of the sliced almonds for 1 cup of quick oats and leave the rest of the recipe alone.

• 7.

  Sandwich two cookies with chocolate between their flat sides for a richer, more substantial version.

Equipment

• Heavy-bottomed saucepan
• Two rimmed baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• Silicone spatula
• Wire cooling rack
• 3-inch round cutter (optional, for reshaping)
• Offset spatula

Storage