Florentine Cookies

Sweet nutty almonds baked on top of buttery shortbread. These cookies came out exactly how I had imagined. 

Florentine Cookies
recipe adapted from HidaMari Cooking

Sable:
75g unsalted butter, room temperature
50g powdered sugar *lower next time to 20g
25g egg (about half of an egg)
10g almond flour
100g cake flour
pinch of salt

1. Cream together butter and sugar until sugar is dissolved
2. Mix in eggs slowly until combined.
3. Sift in almond flour, cake flour, and salt. Using spatula, cut and fold till just combined.
4. Between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper, roll into a rectangle about 5mm thickness.
5. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Nougat:
30g sugar
20g unsalted butter
30g heavy creamy
30g honey
75g sliced almonds

1. In small pot, combined all ingredients except sliced almonds.
2. Bring to a bubbling boil, turn off heat, and mix in almonds.
3. Pour on top of baked sable and evenly spread out almonds into thin layers.
4. Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes.

Free forming these cookies led to some burnt edges. But burnt edges aside, look at how deliciously golden brown and toasty the almonds got.

We still pick out some of the "less burnt" edges to snack on!

Tasty: 4.5 stars out of 5

Will lower the sugar in the shortbread next time and probably up the salt to balance out the sweet honey almond nougat.

Texture: 5 stars out of 5

Crispy and kept well for days!

Matcha Shortbread Cookies

These matcha shortbread cookies are buttery, crumbly, and melt in your mouth! Both the taste and texture are on point. The sweetness is just right, and the matcha flavor comes though.

Matcha Shortbread Cookies
makes about 35 cookies

1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup (25g) powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup (128g) AP flour*
1 Tbsp (6g) matcha powder

*I substituted half of the AP flour with whole wheat flour

1. In stand mixer with paddle attachment on low speed, beat butter till smooth.
2. Add sugar and salt and beat until creamy and smooth.
3. Add flour and matcha powder and mix until dough just comes together.
4. Gather dough into a ball, flatten into disk, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
5. Roll disk between parchment paper to 1/4" thick.
6. Cut out cookies. Chill.
7. Bake at 350F for 10-12 mins. Cool 10 mins. Transfer to wire rack.

Left: thinner | Right: thicker

I rolled the dough to different thickness to see which bakes and tastes better. The differences in taste and texture are insignificant. Appearance-wise, I prefer the thicker cookies since the shape and faces of the bunnies held better. The thinner cookies were fragile to handle. 

Tips when rolling and cutting/stamping these cookies: 

• Return the dough to fridge/freezer to chill if they get too warm and start to stick
• Lightly flour your cookie cutters/stamps to minimize sticking and ease release
• Transferring cut out cookies to baking tray before stamping the design makes it easier to release the stamp

Taste: 5 stars out of 5

Well balanced flavors and sweetness. Can't wait to try out other variations - original, earl grey, lavender, etc.

Texture: 5 stars out of 5

Slightly crisp/snap with melt in your mouth crumbs.

Double Lemon Bars

Pucker up because these double lemon bars pack a punch with lemon zest infused shortbread base and half a cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice in the topping.

A perfect balance of just right sweetness and ultra zesty-ness!

Double Lemon Bars
recipe adapted from PopSugar
makes one 8x8" square (16 squares)

shortbread base:
3/4 cup (96g) all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp organic coconut palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated (about 2 tsp)
6 Tbsp (85g) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
lemon topping:
3 large eggs
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)
1/4 cup (32g) all-purpose flour, sifted

Sifted powdered sugar, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. SHORTBREAD: In food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Add butter and pulse until butter becomes pea sized pieces. Transfer loose shaggy dough to a lined 8" square baking dish. Spread it out evenly and press firmly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until light golden brown and fragrant.
3. TOPPING: In mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until smooth and streak free. Whisk in lemon juice. Sift in flour and whisk till frothy and completely smooth. Pour over shortbread base as soon as it is taken out of oven, and return to oven. Reduce temperature to 300°F, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until top has just set.
4. Allow to cool completely before cutting. For a neater appearance, trim away the edges before cutting into 16 squares. Generously sift powdered sugar on top just before serving.

Press loose and coarse crumbs evenly across pan.

Bake till lightly golden brown.

Whisk ingredients for lemon topping until smooth and lump free.

Bake until top has set.

Cut into squares after cooling.

Taste: Tangy, bright, unmistakably lemon. Shortbread could be more buttery.

4 stars out of 5

Texture: Lemon topping a bit gummy; could like a more creamy mouth feel. Shortbread could be less crumbly and more crisp and firm. Love how the lemon zest was incorporated into the base instead of the topping to keep the topping super smooth.
2 stars out of 5

The crumbly dough of the shortbread didn't look like it would set, but it sorta did. Next time, I would probably go for a more solid shortbread base using melted butter and have more of it.

Valentine's Bakes: Coconut Sugar Pecan Shortbread Cookies

To be honest, I am pretty proud of myself for the spontaneous last minute brunch I pulled together this past Saturday. From ideation to execution, I will shamelessly give myself an A+. I was even able to not leak clues as to what I was preparing to the Fatty for two whole days! Surprise!

I am glad it turned out well, and the Fatty enjoyed the-day-before-valentines-day-brunch as much as I enjoyed preparing for it.

On the menu:

1. "Muscle Builder" Smoothie
   greens // banana // blueberries // almond butter // chia seeds // honey // almond milk
2. Crustless Quinoa Quiche
   quinoa // greens // onions // mozzarella cheese
3. Side salad
   greens // tomatoes // toasted pecans // toasted sunflower seeds // avocado // balsamic maple vinaigrette
4. Banana muffins
   chopped walnuts // peanut butter swirl
5. Banana salted caramel tart
   whipped cream // bruleed banana slices
6. Coconut Sugar Pecan Shortbread Cookiesmilk chocolate // toasted pecans

Coconut Sugar Pecan Shortbread Cookies
recipe halved and adapted from from Natty's Pantry
makes about 44 bite size cookies

1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50g) organic coconut palm sugar
7 Tbsp (99g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (50g) finely ground pecans

Optional: chocolate dip

1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp coconut oil

Melt together.

Chopsticks are helpful in rolling them into an even thickness!

before

after

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cut butter into small cubes, set aside to soften.
3. In a food processor, pulse and ground pecans.
4. Add flour, coconut sugar, and salt to the finely grounded pecan. Pulse until combined.
5. Add butter and vanilla extract, pulse until dough forms.
6. Gather dough in plastic wrap and put another layer of plastic wrap on top. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness, and refrigerate for about 15-20 minutes until firm.
7. When dough is firm, cut out shapes with cookie cutter. If dough gets too soft to handle, return to refrigerator. Refrigerate cut out cookies for another 30 minutes or until firm.
8. Bake for about 10-11 or until golden brown. Let cookies cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to completely cool.
9. Enjoy as is or decorate!

Dip in melted chocolate/coconut oil and throw some toasted pecans on them!

I don't normally make cut out cookies or sugar cookies since they don't appeal to me as much as good ol` classic chocolate chip cookies. The amount of butter and sugar also scares me away from consuming too much of them. This Valentine's day, I wanted to make heart shaped cookies, and this shortbread cookie recipe couldn't have popped up at a better time.

Natty's CNY royal icing design is what drawn me to them at first. And the fact that these cookies incorporate coconut sugar and grounded pecans.. SOLD!

Making these is simple and only require one bowl! The dough gets soft quite fast in the recent cali heat wave, but it's not something a little chill in the fridge cannot fix. Working in small batches seems to help for me.

These cookies retained their shape really well and stayed flat, meaning you can do intricate shapes and designs. I went for a 1-1.5" heart cutter which didn't exactly have the perfect heart shape and dipped them in chocolate. I suggest dipping them in dark chocolate to balance out the sweetness of the cookies and also refrigerating them if you prefer a harder/crispy cookie.

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5
Buttery with a hint of toasty/nutty-ness.
Would reduce the sugar a bit next time.
Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5
Tender, flaky, crisp snap bite.

_____________________________________________________

recipe for quiche: here
recipe for balsamic maple vinaigrette: Flavor the Moments 

recipe adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen*

 

recipe for salted caramel: here 

 
 

*40g coconut sugar, 1/8 tsp fine sea salt, 1 1/2 banana = 172g, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, ~1 tsp peanut butter per muffin

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!