Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies
Florentines are thin and crispy almond cookies that taste of sweet caramel. These Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies 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 Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies, Homemade Vanilla Oreo Cookies, Homemade Peanut Butter Oreos, Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies, or Soft Baked Pumpkin Spice Cranberry Sandwich Cookies.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies
- Ready In: 41 minutes
- Makes: 22 sandwich cookies
- Main Ingredients: almonds, salted butter, powdered sugar, Dutch cocoa
- Flavor Profile: caramel, buttery, creamy chocolate peanut buttery
- Dietary Info: gluten free, no seed oils, eggless
- Difficulty: Medium
- Why You’ll Love It: thin, crispy lace cookies with chocolate peanut butter filling
Summarize & Save This Content On
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. They are almond based, so if you are a fan of almond, you'll love these almond cookies!
- 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 all purpose flour, I hav always omitted it as I don't believe they need it. So, that makes these cookies naturally gluten free.
- Egg-Free: These chocolate peanut butter sandwich cookies are naturally egg-free. Perfect for when you run out of eggs or are baking for someone with an egg allergy.
- Chocolate + Peanut Butter: This recipe fills my traditional florentines with chocolate peanut butter filling. This perfect creamy complement of smooth chocolate peanut butter frosting is perfect wiwth the caramely cookie.
Jump to:
- A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- What are florentines?
- Ingredients
- Baker’s Tips
- How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies FAQ’s
- More Chocolate Peanut Butter Recipes
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies
- The Bake Shop
What are florentines?
Florentine cookies are not a wildly popular cookie that everyone knows, like chocolate chip, smooth peanut butter cookies, or even chocolate cookies. However, once you try these bad boys, I can guarantee that they will become just as loved!
Florentines are a thin, crispy cookie made up of butter, sugar, almonds, and sometimes flour (but my recipe omits the flour). They are very thin and the sugar creates tiny holes in the cookie while baking so they are sometimes called lace cookies.
I started making florentines at my bake shop many years ago, as we had leftover almond bits from sifting our homemade almond flour (that we used for French macarons). We were trying to reduce food waste, so we came up with this recipe to use the ground up almond bits, and I realized how much people love these thin, crispy, buttery, almond cookies! I also have an entire chapter in my book Cookies for Everyone dedicated to florentines.
Most people serve these cookies plain or with a drizzle of chocolate, but I've found that creating the ultimate sandwich cookie out of them by filling them with buttercream is the best! These were wildly popular at my bake shop and sold out every day! For more popular sweets from my bakery, check out Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies with Homemade Caramel, Salted Caramel Cake With Buttercream Frosting, Chocolate Sea Salt Mini Cookies, Traditional Butter Pound Cake Loaf or Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies.
Ingredients
- Butter: I use organic salted butter, which is how we made these in my bakery. If you want to use unsalted butter, you can, just add a pinch of salt into the cookie dough and into the frosting to taste.
- Almonds: You'll need organic blanched slivered almonds for this recipe. Don't use almonds with skins, they need to be blanched and slivered.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: I use Organic Valley Heavy Whipping Cream. You can use pasteurized or un pasteurized, either works.
- Corn Syrup: I use organic light corn syrup, this is key for this recipe. Wholesome makes the organic version that I use for these.
- Vanilla Extract: Be sure to use a high quality vanilla extract, not imitation.
- Peanut Butter: Use a creamy peanut butter, my favorite is the Costco Organic Creamy Peanut Butter. Don't use a chunky peanut butter with pieces of peanuts as the buttercream needs to be smooth.
- Dutch Cocoa Powder: I use organic Dutch cocoa powder for its rich chocolate flavor. You can use natural if you prefer.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker's Tips
- I 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 (for the cookies). 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 my bakery 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 recommend using 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 tips 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!
How to Make Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies
Step 1
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 the dry ingredients.
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 each prepared baking sheet (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.
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 (or any electric mixer works), add the powdered sugar, butter, cocoa, peanut butter, and milk. Mix on low until combined, increase the speed to medium speed, then to high speed, and mix for 2 to 3 minutes more, or until light and fluffy. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl part way through mixing to ensure the frosting is smooth and creamy. 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.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies 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.
If your Florentines are too thin and spread too much with too large holes, two things could have happened. First, if you didn't use cold butter, straight from the fridge, this can happen. It's noted in the recipe for a reason, so pull it straight from the fridge before using. And if you didn't let the cookies rest long enough before baking, this can also happen.
If your Florentines are super thin and brittle that's when they break pretty easily. This can happen from using warm butter in the dough (not cold as directed). This is why cold butter is so important! It can also happen if you don't let the dough rest before baking.
If your oven temperature is off, this can happen. Use an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is at the right temperature. If they are still burning, it could be your cookie sheets. Using a dark colored cookie sheet can cause cookies to burn more easily (especially in a gas oven). Use stainless steel baking sheets or aluminum for the best results and always use parchment paper as noted!
Under baking. Florentines need to bake until golden brown. If they are a light tan color anywhere, that portion will be soft. Be sure to bake until golden brown, even if that means a few extra minutes in the oven, that's okay!
Under baking most likely. You need to bake until golden brown, even if that means a few extra minutes. That's okay as all ovens are a bit different. And, if you store Florentines incorrectly (in an airtight container) they will be chewy and soggy. And, if you live in a very humid climate, this can also happen after baking if they sit out because of all the moisture in the air. If you are in a humid environment, you'll need to store in the fridge or freezer to prevent them from becoming soggy.
Very carefully, haha. Lightly press the second cookie onto the first one and try not to press only on the edges as that can break them more easily or chip the edges off.
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 as we're in a dry climate so they are just the best left out in the open air. If you store these in an airtight container, they can become soggy. But, if you are in a humid climate, you won't be able to leave out because there's too much moisture in the air. In this case, the fridge or freezer is your best option.
More Chocolate Peanut Butter Recipes
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Florentine Sandwich Cookies
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Food Processor
- Heatproof Mixing Bowl
- Half Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper Sheets
- Stand Mixer
- Piping Bag
- Ateco Tip #864
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 the dry ingredients.
- 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 each prepared baking sheet (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.
- 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 (or any electric mixer works), add the powdered sugar, butter, cocoa, peanut butter, and milk. Mix on low until combined, increase the speed to medium speed, then to high speed, and mix for 2 to 3 minutes more, or until light and fluffy. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl part way through mixing to ensure the frosting is smooth and creamy. 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
- I 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 my bakery 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 recommend using 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 tips 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!
Nutrition
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These Florentine cookies are crispy, with a light caramel flavor that pairs so well with the chocolate peanut butter filling! These were so popular at my bakery, selling out every day!