This Easy Florentines recipe was really inspired by so not great ones I had … when I was recently invited to judge a friendly cooking competition amongst friends. These lovely people (bless them) cooked up a storm but their Florentine dessert (based off an online one bowl recipe) was a bit of a mis-adventure.

I was therefore curious and inspired to see if easy and successful Florentines could be simple and quick to do.

Made with healthy nuts and seeds …

This Easy Florentines recipe is a winner! Gluten free with no butter and no flour, these Florentine cookies are simply wholesome nutty goodness. Made with almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, black & white sesame plus cranberries, they are healthy, crunchy, delish & never quite enough in the Sugar Crumble’s household! And it is IMHO, a fool-proof recipe. Try it, you won’t be disappointed 😊 !

So, what is the Florentine story?

A Florentine is a sweet biscuit of nuts & fruit and apparently they are not from Florence! There are quite a few different tales it seem, but the most well-known, claims that the Florentine was first made in France at the Palace of Versailles for King Louis XIV.

The Italian or French cookie?

This cookie was supposedly created by the royal pastry chefs for the Medici family of Florence – visiting in-laws of Catherine de’ Medici, Queen Consort of France in the 16th century. Given the apparent close ties to Florence, the tasty pretty creation was therefore christened the ‘Florentine’. 

🤔 Sounds plausible? Hmm, if the Sugar Crumble wanted to be in the good books of prospective in-laws, baking them an original beautiful & delicious dessert plus giving naming dibs could certainly be a winning game plan! Click on the recipe tutorial below and learn to make this beautiful Easy Florentine!

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here! 

This Easy Florentine is easily my favorite and most popular Chinese New Year recipe. In Chinese custom, nuts and seeds are auspicious symbols of wealth and prosperity particularly during the Lunar New Year. The Sugar Crumble and her household consumes tubs and tubs of these Easy Florentine during the CNY festive period because it is so simple to make and so good and healthy to eat (祝身体健康，财源滚滚) ! Hope you will try this Easy Florentine and enjoy it as much as we do!

If you like this Easy Florentine, you may also like my other Chinese New Year recipes.

• How to make your own Lohei (捞起）
• CNY Blessings Carrot Cake
• Homemade Ba Kwa
• My MIL’s Yummy Pineapple Tarts
• Pistachio Matcha Pineapple Tarts
• Grandpa’s Hainanese Mutton Soup
• Kaffir Lime Spiced Nuts
• Laksa Cookie

Really Simple …

This Easy Florentine is a simple recipe, takes altogether about ~ 35 minutes and done in just 3 easy steps

Step 1: Toast the nuts and seeds.

Step 2: Prepare the glaze, add the nuts & fruit and coat well.

Step 3: Bake, cool and enjoy!

Tips!

#1 Glaze: using egg white vs the whole egg

One might ask, why not use the whole egg? Well, technically you can. I have tried using both and I prefer the egg white glaze. 

Just egg white or whole egg?

The yolk carries the cholesterol, the fats, the bulk of the calories and using the whole egg produces a richer and heavier Florentine. (Note: if using the whole egg, please adjust the proportion of ingredients accordingly as there will be more liquid glaze). Using the yolk also gave a slight egginess to the bake which I did not like. The egg white glaze produced a lighter and healthier tasting Florentine – A Winner!

#2 Baking time

The Florentines baked in the tray will take slightly longer as the nuts are contained at the base of the tin and are not exposed like the ones baked on parchment. Therefore experiment with the baking time in your oven to see what works best.

Slightly over-baked … so test your oven time for those on parchment!

For mine, the tin-baked Florentines took ~ 25 minutes whilst those baked on parchment were done quicker ~ 20 minutes. Do a simple finger test – if the Florentines are not sticky to the touch, they are done.

Simple check for done-ness

#3 Removing from the baking tin …

Patience is the secret to beautiful tin-baked Florentines. I baked mine in a brownie tin to get nice square Florentines. They are more easily compacted when assembled in a tin, and look perfectly uniform and pretty when baked … but just a bit more work when you need to remove them.

Patience is the secret to this beauty ..

The simple way to do this is to use a small knife to disengage the sides and slowly lift up the biscuit from the base of the tin. I found this was most easily done after they have been out of the oven for 10-15 minutes whilst still a little warm. If the Florentines are completely cooled, the glaze would have hardened unto the base and is more difficult to extract. I had difficulty removing these biscuits when fully cooled and chipped quite a few in the process. Still delicious but regrettably not so pretty anymore.

#4 Dark Vs Light Brown Sugar

I have tried both dark brown sugar and light brown sugar in this recipe. Dark brown sugar has a stickier texture and holds the florentines together well giving a wonderful rich caramel flavour.

Dark or light brown sugar?

Light brown sugar, on the other hand, produces a less gooey glaze and hence the florentine comes out more crisp and crunchy but just a bit more fragile to handle. I prefer dark brown sugar for its deeper flavour but both types of sugar taste good, so go with your preference.

#5 Storage

These Easy Florentines stay crisp and store well for 4-5 days, well sealed in an airtight container.

Did you make this? I would love to know how it turned out. Please leave me a review or tag me on Instagram or FB @thesugarcrumble.com

Thank you!

Print Recipe

Easy Florentines

These Easy Florentines are gluten-free nuts & fruit cookies made without butter or flour. Wholesome healthy nutty goodness that tastes simply amazing!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Snack

Servings: 20 florentines

Author: Kai

Ingredients

Nuts/Seeds/Fruit

• 3/4 cup almond slivers
• 1/2 cup sunflowers seeds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup black and white sesame
• 1/3 cup cranberries

Glaze

• 1 egg white
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cardamom

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180C and toast the almonds and seeds for 5 - 10 minutes. This is to crisp the almonds and seeds so that they don’t have that soft gummy bite.
• In the meantime, separate the egg into white and yolk. Keep the yolk for a nice kimchi stew.
• Add the dark brown sugar, salt and cardamom to the egg white and whisk till well combined. (Note: the sugar should be dissolved and no longer lumpy)
• Add the toasted ingredients plus 1/3 cup of cranberries (chopped into small bits)
• Lightly grease a brownie tin (I’m making square Florentines). Spoon a tablespoon of Florentine mix into each square. Flatten well with a spoon and make sure the nuts/seeds/fruit are pressed down and compact. You can also shape them on parchment if not using a tin. Likewise, flatten and compact well before baking.
• Bake at 150C for 20 to 25 minutes. The Florentines will not be sticky to the touch when it is done.
• Take out from the oven. Cool and remove from the tins/parchment. (Note for those baked in the tin, be a little patient; use a small knife to disengage the sides. Carefully lift up and remove the square Florentine from the bake tray). Enjoy.

Video

Notes

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here! Thank you 😊

 

#1 Glaze: using egg white vs the whole egg

One might ask, why not use the whole egg? Well, technically you can. I have tried using both and I prefer the egg white glaze. 

The yolk carries the cholesterol, the fats, the bulk of the calories and using the whole egg produces a richer and heavier Florentine. (Note: if using the whole egg, please adjust the proportion of ingredients accordingly as there will be more liquid glaze).

Using the yolk also gave a slight egginess to the bake which I did not like. The egg white glaze produced a lighter and healthier tasting Florentine - A Winner!

#2 Baking time

The Florentines baked in the tray will take slightly longer as the nuts are contained at the base of the tin and are not exposed like the ones baked on parchment. Hence experiment with the baking time in your oven to see what works best.

For mine, the tin-baked Florentines took ~ 25 minutes whilst those baked on parchment were done quicker ~ 20 minutes. Do a simple finger test - if the Florentines are not sticky to the touch, they are done.

#3 Removing from the baking tin ...

Patience is the secret to beautiful tin-baked Florentines. I baked mine in a brownie tin to get nice square Florentines. They are more easily compacted when assembled in a tin, and look perfectly uniform and pretty when baked ... but also just a bit more work when you need to remove them.

The simple way to do this is to use a small knife to disengage the sides and slowly lift up the biscuit from the base of the tin. I found this was most easily done after they have been out of the oven for 10-15 minutes whilst still a little warm.

If the Florentines are completely cooled, the glaze would have hardened unto the base and is more difficult to extract. I had difficulty removing these biscuits when fully cooled and chipped quite a few in the process. Still delicious but regrettably not so pretty anymore.

#4 Dark brown Vs Light Brown Sugar

I have tried both dark brown sugar and light brown sugar in this recipe. Dark brown sugar has a stickier texture and holds the Florentines together well giving a wonderful rich caramel flavour.

Light brown sugar, on the other hand, produces a less gooey glaze and hence the Florentine comes out more crisp and crunchy but just a bit more fragile to handle. I prefer dark brown sugar for its deeper flavour but both types of sugar taste good, so go with your preference.

#5 Storage

These Easy Florentines stay crisp and store well for 4-5 days, well sealed in an airtight container.