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Prep time
47 minutes
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Cook time
13 minutes
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makes
18 to 20 cookies
Author Notes
No one makes Florentines and they should be! I love them because they straddle the line between cookie and candy. Round, flat and crispy like a cookie; caramelly, sweet, and buttery like a hard toffee. They are super easy, really beautiful, and incredibly delicious.
Reason 1 for why Florentines are great: You can make them with what you already have in your pantry. Here, I use pistachios, but any nut or seed or even cereal will work. Just use the same amount as the pistachios called for in this recipe.
Reason 2 for why Florentines are great: You don't need a mixer—in fact, you don’t even need a bowl. Just grab a small saucepan to bring everything to a boil and that’s it, ready to bake.
Reason 3 for why Florentines are great: They welcome chocolate of any kind—or not. (To be honest, I think they are prettier without I, but they do actually taste better with it.) Here, I use dark, bittersweet (over 70% cacao) chocolate, because the bitterness cuts through the sweetness of the cookie. But any chocolate, even white or milk, will work. And to be honest, you don’t have to temper if you don’t want to—just melt in a double boiler and paint away! (If you don't temper, you won't get as shiny and silky of a texture on the chocolate in the end, but you'll eat these cookies so quickly that maybe it doesn't matter anyway.) —Rick Martinez
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Lacy Honey-Pistachio Florentines (aka Nutty Nudes)
Ingredients
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1 1/4 cups
raw, unsalted pistachios
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6 tablespoons
salted butter
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5 tablespoons
honey
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1/4 cup
granulated sugar
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1 tablespoon
crema, sour cream, full-fat yogurt, or heavy cream
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1 pinch
kosher salt
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1/4 cup
(32g) all-purpose flour
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1 teaspoon
ground canela or cinnamon
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7 ounces
bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), chopped
Directions
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Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350°F.
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On a rimmed baking sheet, lightly toast pistachios until just beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool, finely chop and set aside until ready to use. While the pistachios are cooling, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
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In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring butter, sugar, honey, crema, and a large pinch kosher salt to a boil, stirring occasionally, until sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat. Add pistachios, flour, and canela and stir until completely combined. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to set.
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Increase oven temperature to 375°F. Scoop tablespoon-sized mounds of batter onto the prepared baking sheets and flatten slightly, leaving 2 inches between each mound to allow for the cookies to spread.
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Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until deep golden brown and bubbly, 11 to 13 minutes. Cookies will burn quickly so watch closely in the final minutes of the bake. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat scooping, baking, and cooling process with remaining batter.
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Bring 1 cup water to a gentle simmer. When the water’s boiling, set a small heatproof bowl over the top without letting the bowl touch the water. Add half of the chocolate into the bowl and stir until melted; using a candy thermometer to measure, you’ll want the chocolate to reach a temperature of 132°F. Remove the bowl from the saucepan, add the rest of the chocolate, and stir gently until the chocolate has cooled to 83°F. Place bowl back onto double boiler and heat chocolate, stirring constantly, until chocolate is 88°F. Remove from heat.
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Working quickly so the chocolate doesn’t harden, use a clean pastry brush to paint the bottom of each cooled cookie with melted chocolate. Let cool, chocolate-side up, on a rack until set. Store in an airtight container and enjoy for up to a week.
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Variation: Swap pistachios for 1 cup almonds and ¼ cup coconut.
Rick Martinez is currently living his dream—cooking, eating and enjoying the Mexican Pacific coast in Mazatlán. He is finishing his first cookbook, Under the Papaya Tree, food from the seven regions of Mexico and loved traveling the country so much, he decided to buy a house on the beach. He is a regular contributor to Bon Appétit, New York Times and hosts live, weekly cooking classes for Food Network Kitchens. Earlier this year, he was nominated for a James Beard Award for “How to win the Cookie Swap” in Bon Appétit’s holiday issue.
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