Sigh. I’ve found a new favorite cookie. Or maybe even favorite dessert. Or food in general. These are so tasty I’ve made them multiple weekends in a row. They are crispy, sweet, and have that deep rich caramel-butter flavor that is perfect for winter (or really any season!).
While I wouldn’t go so far to say these are “healthy”, I like them because they have almost no flour in them- they’re mainly just nuts, sugar, and butter. By subbing the sugar with a healthier alternative of brown rice syrup and coconut sugar, each one of these cookies only has 4g sugar. Using coconut sugar does change the texture a bit- the cookie isn’t as light and thin as it would be with 100% regular sugar. However, I enjoyed it equally and it didn’t change the “crunch” factor, which to me was the most important part.
I’d be interested in trying this out with coconut oil; I’ve tried it with Earth Balance and regular butter, and they both turned out well. Out of curiosity, I put this into a recipe generator and found that each cookie has 80 calories, 4g sugar, 6g fat, and 2g protein. All in all, for a cookie, that’s not too bad.
Almond Florentines
Makes 30 small cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Oh She Glows
- 1 3/4 cup (190g) sliced, blanched almonds
- 3 tablespoons (25g) all purpose flour (can make gluten-free)
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup (85g) sugar* see below for alternative to decrease sugar
- 1/4 cup non-salted butter
- 2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or coconut milk (make sure not to use reduced fat)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
If you want to cut down on the sugar, I’ve made this recipe with coconut sugar- I replaced half of the white sugar with coconut sugar (so 42.5g of coconut sugar + 42.5g of white sugar).
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place almonds in a food processor or vitamix to chop up finely. Then place in a small bowl and add almonds, flour, sea salt, and sugar. Set aside.
In a small sauce pot, add butter, brown rice syrup, heavy cream/coconut milk, and vanilla extract and cook over medium heat. Once the mixture has begun to boil, stir and remove from heat. Place in a large bowl.
Add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until well combined. Set aside for 20-30 minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place teaspoon-size balls of dough on baking sheet, giving them about 2-3 inches of space between each one. Lightly press them down with your fingers so they are slightly spread out. Place in oven for 10 minutes, then rotate pan. Bake for an additional 7-9 minutes. They will still be a bit sticky and soft, but will harden as they cool. Let cool for about 5 minutes, then place on a cooling rack.
