Vegan Florentine Biscuits
For many of us, December is probably the last big sprint of the year. Besides buying gifts for all your friends and family and finishing up last projects at work, there are also plenty of Christmas cookies that want to be baked. I feel like I only experience this romantic and soulful when I am forced to lie on my couch because all stores are closed anyway and because my stomach feels way too full for any activities.
Even though I love to do more elaborate kitchen projects during Christmas season, I also enjoy quick recipes that can be prepared easily in between all the chaos. Florentine biscuits are perfect for this as they only require 10 minutes of preparation, then bake in the oven, and are dipped in melted chocolate afterwards. The traditional recipe contains heavy cream, butter, and honey, which we replace with plant-based heavy cream, vegan butter, and sugar.
We used vegan oat cream as the plant-based heavy cream, but you could also use a soy based cream or something similae. For the vegan butter we used a vegan margarine from the supermarket that was as firm as regular butter and not too soft. While we haven't tried the recipe with the soft margarine option, we think that it might work as well.
By the way, Florentine biscuits are also a great choice if you're looking for gluten-free Christmas cookies as you won't need any flour for this recipe. Looking for more vegan Christmas cookies? Then check out our recipe collection here.
Vegan Florentine Biscuits
Ingredients
- 50 g (0.25 cup) sugar
- 30 g (0.25 stick) vegan butter
- 40 ml (8 tsp) plant-based heavy cream
- 100 g (3.5 oz) almond flakes
- 45 g (1.5 oz) ground almonds
- 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate
- fresh orange zest (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F (circulating air). Add sugar, vegan butter, and plant-based heavy cream to a small pot. Heat for approx. 2-3 minutes (stirring all the time!) until the vegan butter and sugar are melted and all ingredients are combined. If desired add some orange zest. Once the mix is melted and combined, carefully fold in almond flakes and ground almonds.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add dollops of approx. 2 tsp of the mixture to the baking sheet until you get 15 dollops.
- Bake Florentine biscuits at 160°C/320°F for approx. 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool out completely.
- Melt dark chocolate in a heatrproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Carefully dip the biscuits into the melted chocolate to cover only the bottom of the biscuits. Transfer them to wire rack to let them drip off and dry.
