Florentines

Have you ever had Florentines? I never had but decided to make them this year for some gift baskets. They were super-de-duperly easy and quick! Not to mention DELICIOUS!

1 3/4 Cup Almonds 3T. Flour

1/4 t. salt 3/4 cup Sugar

2 T. heavy cream 2 T. corn syrup

5 T. unsalted butter 1/2 t. vanilla

Orange Zest, about 2 T.

*Almond bark, melted for drizzling*

Preheat oven to 350. Spray baking sheets. Pulse almonds in food processor until finely chopped. (We don't have a food processor so I just chopped them as finely as I could) Stir together nuts, flour, zest and salt in bowl. (I didn't have unsalted butter so I skipped adding the salt and just used salted butter) Put the sugar, cream (I used hald and half) corn syrup and butter in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until boiling and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, then pour over almond mixture and stir. Let cool till workable, about 30 mins. (I put it outside on my window ledge in the freezing cold so it was workable within 15 mins, for me)

Take 1/2 t. sized amount and put six to a pan. (The original recipe I followed said teaspoon sized but that was way to big for my pans. You can test one or two to determine the size you want to make them at and just to see how the cook adn how much they actually spread out. ) Bake about 5 mins (the recipe told me to bake for 10 - 12 but that was way too long, ovens vary) until flattened and brownish in color. Process is rapid so be sure to keep an eye on it. Let cool on pans for a minute before moving to cooling rack. Make sure you are careful with them as they are delicate/brittle. Drizzle with melted chocolate as a finishing touch... Enjoy!