Lace Florentines Dipped in Chocolate
18-20 Cookies
1 rounded cup finely chopped almonds (consistency of coarse cornmeal)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup crystalized ginger, chopped into ¼” pieces
Zest of one large orange
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
9 Tbsp sugar (I use 5 Tbsp granulated sugar and 4 Tbsp dark brown sugar)
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp honey
4 Tbsp light corn syrup
12 ounces chocolate (I use 8 ounces dark and 4 ounces white)
1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line three sheet pans with parchment paper
2) Place the chopped almonds, sliced almonds, chopped crystalized ginger and orange zest in a medium bowl and toss with the 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour.
3) Combine the butter, sugars, cream, honey and corn syrup in a medium (heavy) saucepan and place over low heat. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a boil and boil for one minute. Remove from the heat.
4) Pour the butter mixture over the fruit-nut mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are just combined. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoons onto the baking sheets (no more than six per sheet). If needed, flatten the mounds with a fork dipped in water.
5) Bake the cookies until they are bubbling all over and the edges are starting to brown – about 9-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheets five minutes, then remove the paper and transfer to a wire rack. Let the cookies cool completely, then remove them from the paper by hand and replace them on the wire rack.
6) Melt the chocolate (separately, if using dark and white) on top of a double boiler, or in 20-second burst in the microwave. If using both chocolates, drop teaspoons of the melted white into the melted dark and swirl with a chopstick. Dip the edges of the cooled cookies into the chocolate as far up as you desire. Lay the dipped cookies on parchment paper for the chocolate to cool and set.
7) These cookies are best eaten the day they are made.
Note: If you desire perfectly round cookies, when you remove them from the oven, use a large biscuit cutter and cut the cookies into perfect circles. Then let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the paper.
