#52cookies - Chocolate Florentines

One of the best parts about this cookie challenge is I am making cookies I normally wouldn’t make and finding out my family likes them.

Before I tended to stick to sugar cookies, chocolate chip and the odd peanut butter thrown in, but now – well I obviously need to expand my repertoire if I am going to get 52 different cookies made.

I have never made Florentines before and I think I might have only ever eaten one, so there was a little trial and error and I also wasn’t really sure what I was looking for in texture etc.  Thankfully my At Work panel was very knowledgeable in Florentines and gave me some great info / feedback.

At Home Panel: (The chocolate had not had a chance to harden; hence their comments about the mess.)

Little Girl: Kinda slimy, kinda chocolaty inside.  I like it.  A bit messy.

5 out of 5 stars

Little Boy: Sandwich cookie.  I really like it.

5 out of 5stars

Hubby: Extremely chocolaty, it’s almost a little overpowering.  Pretty messy.

3 out of 5 stars

At Work Panel:

Barb: Very tasty; hard – are they supposed to be hard?  Mine is hard on the outside.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Sarah: These are good.  5 out of 5!  One cookie is enough at a time.  Soft fancy cookie.

5 out of 5 stars

Sandee: I love Florentines; I usually have the nougat ones, I’ve never had this kind before.  They’re great.  They are chewy but not too much so they tick in your teeth.

5 out of 5stars

Andy: It’s very good; but anything chocolate is a hit for me.  I like the texture; I like chewy cookies.

4 out of 5stars

Bryce:  Really good.  I like the oatmeal part; a bit too sweet because the chocolate is so sweet.

4 out of 5 stars

Brent:  Pretty good.  I like these.  This is an overload of my favourite cookie.  Definitely needs a coffee.  Just the right amount of crunchy and chewy.

5 out of 5 stars

Amber: Delish.  Good cookie to chocolate ratio.  I like that they are chewy.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Overall rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars

My notes:

The original recipe calls for milk chocolate chips, I only had semi-sweet chocolate chips so that is what I used.  If you used milk chocolate they wouldn’t be as sweet, and you could use dark too if that was your favourite chocolate.

I used 2 different cookie sheets to make these; one was a nice thick one and the other one is thin.  The cookies made on the thick sheet turned out better.  They were softer and chewyer.

It is very easy to under cook these cookies, if you under cook them THEY WILL NOT COME OFF THE FOIL!  At the same time it is pretty easy to overcook them.  I suggest if you are making these and need specific amount, make extra – the first few might not turn out.

It is also quite a long process of baking (unless you have 10 cookie sheets which I do not).  So plan for the time – you need to let you cookie sheets cool down between batches – I ended up using my 2 thick cookie sheets once I learned the thin ones don’t work as well and it really slowed down my afternoon.

But these are cookie made to impress, they look great and a definitely taste good.

Chocolate Florentines

2/3 cup butter

2 cups quick oats

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup corn syrup

¼ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet or dark)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Line baking sheets with foil and spray lightly with cookie spray.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, remove from heat and stir in the oats, white sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk and vanilla.  Stir until fully incorporated. 

Using a scoop (small) or rounded teaspoon, drop onto cookie sheets.  Make sure to give lots of space since these cookies will spread a lot.  Use a rubber spatula to spread the cookies out.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until theyare just starting to turn golden. 

Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely on wire rack.  Once cooled, peel off the foil.

Take your time, there is a bit of trial and error to getting the right doneness of the cookies.

Once all your cookies are done, melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20-30 second intervals stirring in-between until smooth.

Spread chocolate on the bottom side of one cookie and top with another one to make a sandwich.

Allow to set for a few hours before consuming.

Yield: 2-3 dozen cookies (depending on how big you make them).

Enjoy!