Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentines
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Florentines are thin and crispy almond cookies that taste of sweet caramel. These Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentines are filled with chocolate peanut butter buttercream for the ultimate cookie sandwich!
If you love sandwich cookies be sure to check out some of my other favorites like my Peanut Butter Cookie Pies, Caramel Spritz Sandwich Cookies, or my Homemade Vanilla Oreo Cookies.
Table of Contents
What are florentines?
This is a great question, as these are not a wildly popular cookie that everyone knows like chocolate chip. However, once you try these bad boys, I can guarantee that they will be just as loved! I started making florentines at my bake shop many years ago, and I realized how much people love this thin, crispy, buttery, almond cookie! I also have an entire chapter in my book Cookies for Everyone dedicated to florentines.
Florentine cookies are a thin, crispy cookie made up of butter, sugar, almonds, and sometimes flour. They are very thin and also the sugar creates tiny holes in the cookie while baking so they are sometimes called lace cookies. Some florentines have flour, but I created my recipe without flour so that it was naturally gluten free as I don't think the flour is needed. You can eat these cookies plain, but I've found that creating the ultimate sandwich cookie out of them by filling them with buttercream is the best!
And today I made my Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentines. This recipe for florentines is so delicious as the florentine cookie itself is caramely in flavor because of the sugar and butter, so pairing it with chocolate and peanut butter is just amazing!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Thin & Crispy: Florentines are a thin and crispy cookie. Some people call them lace cookies because they are so thin with small holes, like lace.
Buttery: My florentine cookies are buttery and just melt in your mouth. They also have hints of richness and caramel.
Naturally Gluten Free: While traditional florentines can have flour, I hav always omitted it as I don't believe they need it. So, that makes these cookies naturally gluten free.
Chocolate + Peanut Butter: This recipe fills my traditional florentines with chocolate peanut butter filling. The combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and the rich and buttery, caramely cookie is simply devine.
Ingredients
Food to Live Organic Blanched Slivered Almonds
Organic Valley Heavy Whipping Cream
Wholesome Organic Light Corn Syrup
Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
Florida Crystals Organic Powdered Sugar
Costco Kirkland Organic Peanut Butter
NuNaturals Organic Dutch Cocoa Powder
Tools Needed
Baking Sheet Half Sheet Pan (use code MIMIBAKES for 10% off my favorite stainless steel sustainable bakeware!)
Parchment Paper (get my favorite nontoxic parchment paper and get 10% off with MIMIBAKES)
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Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
To make the dough: Process the almonds in a food proces sor for exactly 30 seconds. Transfer the ground almonds to a plastic mixing bowl, add the sea salt, and whisk together to combine.
Step 2
In a medium pot over medium heat, mix together the cane sugar, butter, cream, and corn syrup with a highheat spatula, and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 197°F to 200°F on a digital thermometer. Immediately remove from the heat. Pour the hot sugar mixture over the almonds, and stir several times. Add the vanilla extract, and stir to combine completely.
Let the mixture rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until it has cooled enough to touch.
Step 3
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Step 4
Using your hands, form the dough into 44 balls and place them on the prepared cookie sheets (11 should fit on each cookie sheet): line up 3 balls of dough along each long side of the cookie sheet, then zigzag 5 additional balls of dough down the middle (if you have my book, Cookies for Everyone, see “Shaping,” page 167).
Step 5
Bake for 11 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
Step 6
To make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the powdered sugar, butter, cocoa, peanut butter, and milk. Mix on low until combined, increase the speed to high, and mix for 1 minute more, or until light and fluffy. Transfer the filling to a piping bag fit ted with Ateco tip #864.
Step 7
Pair the cookies together by size, and turn over every other one. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto each turned over cookie, starting around the outer edge and spiraling into the middle. Care fully sandwich the pairs.
Baker's Tips
- I would highly recommend using a digital food scale for this recipe! I recommend using a scale for every recipe, but if you don't usually do that, please listen to me here! Florentines are a temperamental cookie – therefore, using a scale is going to give you better results each time as you can focus on the skills it takes to create these cookies and know your measurements are accurate each time.
- Make sure your butter is cold, straight from the fridge. This is important because if the butter is a different temperature, it heats and cooks differently. This was one of the main things I noticed when creating this recipe and testing it again and again, and having staff make it over and over, and different people using different temperature butter – it made the florentines wildly inconsistent as far as texture goes. And the texture is super important here, so that's why I created this recipe using cold butter straight from the fridge, as it makes it so easy to make this recipe for florentines perfect every time!
- Grinding the almonds should be done for exactly 30 seconds. This, just like the cold better matters for the final texture of the florentines.
- I use a plastic mixing bowl for these, as the mixture can get very hot and using a glass or metal bowl can burn your hand. You can use glass or metal, but just be careful when touching it as the dough is very hot.
- These have minimal ingredients, so use the best organic ingredients as every ingredient matters.
- Your florentine dough balls should be at room temperature before they go into the oven. If they still seem very warm, you can let them sit on the cookie sheets for a few more minutes. This is important, because it has to do with the temperature of the sugar before it gets baked. If the dough is still too warm, the florentines will be much more holey, brittle, fragile, and break very easily. If you noticed this happened, try letting your florentines sit for a few more minutes before baking.
- On the flip side, if your florentines are small in diameter and seem very thick, then you waited too long to put them into the oven! Florentines are very temperamental, so all these steps and tricks are in place for a reason. Take note of how your florentines come out the first time, and adjust from there. It may take you longer to ball them the first few times you make them, and if that is the case, you might want to ball two trays, bake them, and then continue to ball the other two trays as opposed to balling them all together and letting them sit for too long.
- I use Ateco tip #864 to fill the florentines, it's just kinda my thing. But, you can use any tip you like or no tip at all!
- Florentines are partially delicious because of their golden brown color, as that brings out the flavor. If your florentines don't look golden brown, then don't be afraid to bake them a little bit longer. Go 1 to 2 minutes and then check again. All ovens are different, and some may take a couple minutes longer. Just be sure to keep an eye on them and set a timer, as they can burn very easily!
FAQ's
No, this does not work! I have tested this before and it's just not the same. The ground almonds are not as fine as almond flour, so it's key to use almonds and grind them for the exact time noted.
Yes, florentines are a great cookie to make ahead of time! Because they are thin and crispy, they won't dry out if you leave them out overnight. This makes them an excellent choice if you are prepping for a party the following day.
Because these cookies are crispy they need to be stored in a cool dry place. I prefer to leave these out on a plate on the counter while we enjoy them for a few days! If you store these in an airtight container, they can become soggy.
Craving More?
Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentines
Equipment
Ingredients
Dough
- 170 grams blanched slivered almonds
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 142 grams cane sugar
- 57 grams salted butter (chilled)
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 28 grams light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling
- 310 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 113 grams salted butter (softened)
- 28 grams Dutch cocoa powder (sifted)
- 28 grams peanut butter
- 1 to 3 teaspoons milk
Instructions
- To make the dough: Process the almonds in a food processor for exactly 30 seconds. Transfer the ground almonds to a plastic mixing bowl, add the sea salt, and whisk together to combine.
- In a medium pot over medium heat, mix together the cane sugar, butter, cream, and corn syrup with a highheat spatula, and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 197°F to 200°F on a digital thermometer. Immediately remove from the heat. Pour the hot sugar mixture over the almonds, and stir several times. Add the vanilla extract, and stir to combine completely.
- Let the mixture rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until it has cooled enough to touch.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Using your hands, form the dough into 44 balls and place them on the prepared cookie sheets (11 should fit on each cookie sheet): line up 3 balls of dough along each long side of the cookie sheet, then zigzag 5 additional balls of dough down the middle (if you have my book, Cookies for Everyone, see “Shaping,” page 167).
- Bake for 11 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets.
- To make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the powdered sugar, butter, cocoa, peanut butter, and milk. Mix on low until combined, increase the speed to high, and mix for 1 minute more, or until light and fluffy. Transfer the filling to a piping bag fit ted with Ateco tip #864.
- Pair the cookies together by size, and turn over every other one. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto each turned over cookie, starting around the outer edge and spiraling into the middle. Care fully sandwich the pairs.
- Store in a cool dry place for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Notes
Nutrition
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