At last!! I may have just found my favourite Christmas cookie recipe. It’s buttery, spiced with cinnamon, topped with a nutty caramel and dipped in dark chocolate – you really can’t go wrong 🙂
This recipe is an adaptation of the traditional Florentine biscuit (originating from Italy, although some dispute this…) but combines nuts (hazelnuts or almonds), candied fruit, honey and chocolate. Adding a sweet biscuit layer gives the cookie a bit more substance and bite. Since it has two components, it was a bit more fiddly to make, but was definitely a fun project on a Friday night!
Ingredients (makes 18)
For the biscuit layer
- 115 g unsalted butter, softened
- 55 g golden caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 150 g plain flour
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
For the Florentine topping
- 33 g unsalted butter
- 33 g light brown sugar
- 33 g maple syrup
- 33 g plain flour
- 50 g dried cranberries (or glacé cherries, if you prefer)
- 50 g flaked almonds
- Pinch of salt
- 100 g dark chocolate
Directions
- Make the biscuit dough. Start by creaming together the butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric whisk.
- Sift in the flour and cinnamon, then fold together.
- Use your hands or a spatula to form the dough into a sphere, wrap in cling film then chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Make the Florentine topping. Melt the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup in a saucepan over low heat. Take off the heat, si°ft in the flour and add the almonds, cranberries and a pinch of salt. Gently fold through.
- Leave the Florentine mixture to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / 350°F.
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Take the biscuit dough out from the fridge and, on a lightly floured surface, roll to the thickness of a £1 coin.
- Use a cookie cutter/mug/glass (approx. 6 cm in diameter) to cut out the biscuits and place onto a baking sheet.
- Combine any scraps and roll out again, cutting out more biscuits until the dough is used up.
- Evenly spread about 2 tsp of Florentine topping onto each biscuit.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until the biscuits are golden. Leave to cool for at least 15 mins.
- Melt the dark chocolate – either on a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.
- Decorate the biscuits as you wish with the chocolate. I did a generous chocolate drizzle for half of the batch, and dipped the other half in the remaining chocolate.
- Let the chocolate set in the fridge.
- Enjoy!
(Recipe adapted from bbcgoodfood.com)
