Mix Nut Cookies with Homemade Florentine flour Ingredient

I remember chewing on the most delicious Florentine cookie from a salad mixture in Sandakan a few months back. Adding Florentine cookie to a salad dish was ingenious in my opinion. I happily chomped on those crunchy sweet cookies.

I have never forgotten them so when we had a pile of nuts which was due to expiry in one month time, I decided to make my own Florentine cookies. It will also be served during Christmas dinner which was just around the corner.

My plan hit a hiccup though when I realized how expensive those Florentine cookies premix packet sold in the supermarket was.

I decided to make my own Florentine flour ingredient mix at home instead. It turned out to be super easy. I have done nougat and peanut sugar coated snacks before so I knew it needed a lot of sugar to bind those cookies together.

Ingredient

600g nuts

175g butter

150g brown sugar

50g caster sugar

50g honey

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

100g flour

2 egg whites (stiff peak)

Toast the nuts on a hot pan until fragrant. This is a MUST if you want a crunchy bite.

Mix butter, sugar, honey and salt in a small pot with low heat. Mix until all combine then whisk in the flour. Do not bring boil. The final texture should be a creamy still fluid batter. Mix in more flour if the texture is too watery.

Add vanilla then pour the sugar mixture into the toasted nuts and mix well.

In another bowl beat the egg whites into stiff peak. 

Combine the egg whites with the nuts

Take a spoonful of batter and place them on the baking tray. Press down and form into a round shape. The batter will be sticky.

Do not worry if they look crumbly and loose. As long as each nut is touching the other nut then the sugar will bond them together during baking. It should however be sticky.

If the batter has too much liquid then the cookie will flattened during baking and might be easily broken.

If the batter is too dry and not sticky enough then add another egg white. Egg white helps to bond the nuts together

Bake the cookies at 170C and NOT MORE than 12 minutes. Baking longer will burn them. Watch the cookies at the 10 minute mark. Remember to place a baking paper or aluminum foil on top to avoid burning if you feel you need more baking time.

The cookie will be soft after bake but will hardened when it is cooled.

This cookie is not sweet at all despite the one cup of sugar. In fact I thought it needed more sweetness. It will be crunchy and super nutty. It is not sticky with a hint of oiliness.

It is slightly hard but the crunch is delicious especially if you like nuts.