Easy Florentines
These Easy Florentines are gluten-free nuts & fruit cookies made without butter or flour. Wholesome healthy nutty goodness that tastes simply amazing!
Servings: 20 florentines
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
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#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.