My in-laws arrive today and I have been rushing about today getting everything ready for their arrival. I’ve put up the Christmas tree, baked a batch of cup cakes and on a last minute whim, I whipped up some Christmas Florentine Cookies. We’re going out tonight for dinner so I think one of my cup cakes may send them over the edge, so a little Florentine and a cup of green tea will be just the thing!

I’m really feeling festive now that the tree is up, we had to go hunting for some Christmas lights as we forgot that we’d broken the lights from last year and we had to go to 4 different stores before we found any twinkle lights, but they’re up now and look fabulous. Just need some prezzies to put under the tree and we’re there!

Vegan Florentine Cookies

Makes 14 cookies

3/4 cups almonds, roughly chopped

1 and 1/3 tbsp whole wheat flour

1 tbsp chopped candied orange peel

1/4 cup natural brown sugar

1 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk)

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 ½ tbsp vegan margarine

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

30g dark chocolate (vegan)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

2. In a food processor or using a hand blender, blitz the almonds until they are a fine meal consistency, then add to a bowl with the flour and candied orange.

3. In a small pan, combine the milk, margarine, maple syrup and sugar and over a medium heat let the sugar melt, once it comes to the boil, cook for another 30 seconds then turn off the heat, add the vanilla and pour over the almond mixture and stir through. Leave mixture to cool, about 20 minutes

4. Grab a teaspoon and take a slightly heaped measure of the dough and using your hands press tightly into a ball and flatten out to a shape you are happy with and place the dough onto a lined baking tray and pop in the oven for about 10 minutes until the cookies turn golden.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly and while you are doing that, melt the chocolate in a microwavable bowl, takes about 60 – 90 seconds to melt in the microwave, then drizzle it over your Florentines (I sprinkled a little coconut over mine to make them more festive), then using a spatula, gently lift your cookies from the baking sheet and pop in a container and you can keep them in the fridge for up to a week.

Original recipe here