Chocolate Almond Lace Cookies

I know it’s a Tuesday morning, and I know you’re probably on your way to work/school, but please go and make these cookies. As in, right now. Or, if that’s physically impossible for you to do at the moment, just promise me you’ll make them in the near future.

In case you’re unfamiliar with them, almond lace cookies, or florentines, are essentially what you get when you melt together butter, sugar, almond meal and other yumminess. The mixture bubbles and bakes down into a paper-thin buttery cookie with holes that just scream to be filled with chocolate.

Like this! These guys are incredibly easy and incredibly delicious. This recipe is adapted from the folks over at Love and Olive Oil (Hi! I love your blog!)

To start, melt some buttah in a large-ish saucepan.

Add in some sugar, flour and salt and give the whole thing a whisk. Continue stirring it over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then add in a bunch of almond meal and some milk, keeping it on the heat until the mixture thickens a bit. Turn off the stove and stir in some orange zest and almond extract. That’s it for the dough!

After 10 minutes of cooling, drop the batter by the scant-teaspoonful onto a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. You may need a spatula to help with this–things can get pretty sticky.

Make sure to leave plenty of space for spreading! Bake for around 7 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.

Be really careful handling these… They break super easily.

Clearly I didn’t get the memo.

These would be perfect as is, but if you want to take it one step further…

The answer is always chocolate.

Just press another cookie on top and you’re done! Now you can eat 😉

Oooh…

Ahhh…

Yum. These cookies are everything–crisp and buttery, with a subtle hint of orange zest and the velvety richness of good dark chocolate. Here’s a condensed version of the recipe:

Chocolate Almond Lace Cookies

Makes around 32 sandwich cookies

from crumbsandnibbles.com, originally from loveandoliveoil.com

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup almond meal (or ground blanched almonds)

2 tablespoons whole milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon orange zest

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add in the sugar, all-purpose flour and salt and whisk over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, around 3 minutes.

3. Stir in the almond meal and milk, keeping it on the heat until the mixture thickens a bit. Turn off the stove and stir in the orange zest and almond extract. Set aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.

4. Drop the batter by the scant-teaspoonful onto a parchment or Silpat-lined baking sheet. You may need a spatula to help with this, as the batter can get sticky. Make sure to space the cookies a good 3 inches apart.

5. Bake for 3 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking until the cookies are light golden brown, around 3 more minutes. Keep an eye on them once they start to bubble up, because they brown quickly. Once out of the oven, let the cookies cool for a few minutes, or until they are solid enough to transfer to a wire rack.

6. Once the cookies are completely cool, spread a thin layer of chocolate on the flat side of one cookie. Place a cookie of similar size on top and set on a rack to dry.

Enjoy, my friends. Happy nibbling!