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gluten free

Almond Florentines

May 25, 2011

Almond Florentines

These golden hued disks of sliced almonds are crisp, shiny and supremely addictive.

What’s a Florentine you ask? It’s an Italian cookie that gets its name from where it originated, Florence, and is generally made with almonds and hazelnuts (the most abundantly used nuts in the region). Dried and candied fruits are also added sometimes. Traditional Florentines are painted with chocolate at the bottom – making it such a pleasant surprise.

These almond Florentines are a breeze to make. It literally takes less than 2 minutes to put the ingredients together and then it sits into the oven for 8-10 minutes to transform into toasted, crunchy cookies.

Word of caution: these weren’t easy to take off the magical silicone baking mat (shocking), so I’m pretty sure when you’re using parchment or greaseproof paper, they are going to be rather unforgiving. Make sure to brush the baking mat or parchment with a little oil to make things easier.

As soon as I took a bite, I wished I’d added a pinch of cinnamon. And then maybe some pieces of candied oranges. A perfect marriage of heavenly flavours.

They’re light and delicate, perfect with a cup of coffee. Crush them over a bowl of ice cream or caramelised apples or banana manna.

Almond Flakes

This recipe for almond Florentines is inspired from The Ottolenghi Cookbook (USA | UK | India)

Almond Florentines

Ingredients

  • 2 egg whites
  • 140g icing sugar
  • 9 oz/ 260g flaked almonds

Cooking Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/290°F. Line a baking tray with either parchment or silicione baking mat.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the egg whites and icing sugar. Stir in the flaked almonds.
  3. Spoon the almond blobs on the baking sheet, flattening it with the spoon as you go.
  4. Bake for 6-8 minutes until they’re golden brown.
  5. Let it cool on the baking sheet for a bit. Then use a palette knife to remove the biscuits from the sheet. Eat up or store in a jar for upto 4 days.

 

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Flourless Hazelnut Cookies

July 20, 2010

hazelnut cookies

Do you have midnight cookie hankerings?  I’m pretty sure you do. And even when there might be some cookie crumbs in the jar or a pack of cookies in the pantry, all you want is a fresh, warm cookie, right out of the oven.

But isn’t it annoying to get ingredients for a cookie ready when you simply want to fast forward to the eating stage? Waiting for the butter to soften is a task in itself, of course, along with the hassle of sifting the flour and baking powder together. Gah! Might as well just go off to bed and dream of cookies instead!

What if I told you I’m sharing with you a three-ingredient recipe that you can whip up in no time? To top that we’re even going to make miniature size hazelnut cookies, so they get baked a lot sooner. This recipe, my friends, is going to be the only one you need when you crave for a delicious snack and haven’t much time at hand.

I’m addicted to these cookies. Addicted, I tell you. I have made them thrice in two days and I just can’t stop eating them. I never considered myself to be a cookie fiend, but a lot has changed since I put this hazelnut cookie in my mouth. That too without feeling an ounce of guilt – these are flourless butterless cookies! In addition to becoming a fan of the flavour, I’ve a new found respect for egg whites. They make the flourless cookie so crunchy!

I love these flourless cookies plain, I love these flourless cookies sandwiched with a smear of Nutella and best of all, I love these flourless cookies with ice cream. Take a scoop of either chocolate or vanilla ice cream and crush these crunchy bits of hazelnut cookie goodness on top of it. You will be floored.

Not only is this delicious to eat (but then, anything with hazelnuts is!), the smell is phenomenal. There have been times I’ve just opened the jar of hazelnut cookies to get a whiff of the toasted hazelnuts. The fragrance is nothing short of intoxicating.

Of course, you don’t need to wait for a midnight cookie craving to make these.

hazelnut cookies

Flourless Butterless Italian Hazelnut Cookies  (aka Brutti ma Buoni)

Adapted from: Eating Well
Yield: 40-45 cookies, 1 inch in diameter

Ingredients:

1 cup hazelnuts, lightly toasted and skinned
½ cup sugar
2 large egg whites
a pinch of salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
Sliced hazelnuts for garnish (optional)

Equipment: Silpat (because you really don’t want to line bakig sheets, and then struggle to get this piece of heaven off it. An absolute must!)

Method:

  1. Preheat to 160°C/325°F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.
  2. Pulse nuts and sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Scrape into a large bowl.
  3. Beat egg whites and salt in another large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.
  4. Using a silicone spatula, fold the egg whites into the nut mixture. Add vanilla and gently but thoroughly mix until combined.
  5. Transfer the mixture to a disposable piping bag and snip off the tip. Pipe the batter on the Silpat, making sure to keep a uniform size under 1 inch in diameter, as well as maintaining a finger’s distance between cookies.
  6. Tap the baking sheet a few times on the counter, this will help spread the cookie and give a flat cookie with a good snap.
  7. Sprinkle the cookie batter with the sliced hazelnuts.
  8. Place the baking sheet in the centre of the oven and bake until golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Switch the pans back to front. Keep an eye on it; it goes from golden brown to brown very quickly, given the tiny size.
  9. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Gently transfer the butterless cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. Store in an airtight container for upto a week. But I bet it won’t last that long.

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