Vegan & Gluten-free Florentines

These vegan & gluten-free florentines are the perfect cookie to enjoy during the festive period. Packed with nuts, cranberries and a hint of orange with a layer of dark chocolate to intensify the flavour!

I’ve always loved florentines – they have the most beautiful crunch and a complex flavour from the nuts, spices and chocolate. I didn’t realise how easy they were to make at home until I started to experiment with my own recipe. They would make a beautiful and thoughtful edible gift for your loved ones.

All you have to do to make these vegan & gluten-free florentines is to add everything to a pan (apart from the chocolate), heat to combine, shape into cookies and bake! There is another step where you add dark chocolate, but to be honest you can even skip this part if you don’t like chocolate or if you don’t have time/energy for more steps. The chocolate does however add more depth and complexity to the flavour, and being a massive chocolate fan myself of course I would always recommend adding chocolate :P.

If you’re looking for an easy last minute festive treat, you need to try this recipe! I filmed a short video to show you just how easy they are to make, which you can check out on my Instagram page.

I have a few more Christmas recipes coming over the next few days, so be sure to watch this space!

Vegan & Gluten-free Florentines

Makes: 8-10

Ingredients

50g rice syrup
30g coconut oil
30g oat flour – rolled oats ground into a flour in the food processor. Use gluten-free oats if you want them to be gluten-free.
40g pistachios, finely chopped
30g flaked almonds, finely chopped
30g dried cranberries, finely chopped
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
70g dark chocolate, melted

Method

Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan.
Add the rice syrup and coconut oil to a saucepan. Melt over a medium heat until combined and the mixture starts to bubble.
Take off the heat and fold in the rest of the ingredients (apart from the chocolate).
Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out even amounts of the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Make sure the cookies are well spaced out as they will spread in the oven.
Press them down a little (not too much!). Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges start to brown.
Use a spoon to tidy up the edges as soon as they come out of the oven and the cookies are still soft and mouldable. Leave them to cool completely before removing them from the baking tray or else they will crack and break.
Once cooled, turn the cookies over and spread a layer of dark chocolate on the bottom side. Use a fork to create waves to make them look even prettier. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set.
Enjoy!