These Chocolate Florentine Lace Cookies are elegant with a mix of nutty, chocolatey flavor. This delicious cookie recipe is easy to make and looks beautiful, making it perfect to serve for dessert or give as a gift.
If you love these scrumptious cookies, you should try our White Chocolate Florentines and Chewy Amaretti Cookies.
Table Of Contents
- What are chocolate lace Cookies or Florentine Cookies?
- Here’s what you’ll need to make Florentine cookies
- You can make them gluten-free!
- How to make these chocolate lace cookies
- Tips for the best lace cookies
- Flavor Variations to try
- How to Store these cookies
- Can I make lace cookies ahead of time?
- More yummy cookie recipes
- Full Recipe Instructions
What are chocolate lace Cookies or Florentine Cookies?
Chocolate Florentine Lace Cookies are a festive and fun dessert that you just have to try. The recipe is easy to follow and uses tasty ingredients like melted chocolate, chopped almonds, and brown sugar. These Florentine cookies are sweet with the perfect crunch from the honey-sweetened almonds that are used for their base. After baking, they are slim and held together as a sandwich by decadent chocolate that’s been melted and brushed on. You are going to love this recipe for chocolate lace cookies. It’s the perfect homemade dessert for this time of year.
Here’s what you’ll need to make Florentine cookies
- Dry ingredients- Almonds and All-purpose flour
- Wet ingredients- Unsalted butter, Golden brown sugar, Honey, and Vanilla extract
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips– For the filling
You can make them gluten-free!
This recipe is really easy to make gluten-free. Just substitute brown rice flour for the all-purpose flour and follow the rest of the steps. Your Chocolate Lace cookies are now gluten-free!
How to make these chocolate lace cookies
This is a quick rundown of the recipe with step-by-step photos. For the full detailed recipe, scroll down to the printable recipe card.
- Chop the almonds. Place the almonds in a food processor and pulse on high speed until the almonds are chopped into fine crumbs. Set them aside.
- Melt the butter and sugar. In a medium saucepan, place the butter, brown sugar, and honey. Melt them together, stirring with a metal whisk. Once they come to a boil, remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the vanilla and flour. Now stir in the vanilla extract and flour.
- Add in the chopped almonds. Using a spatula, mix in the almonds.
- Scoop out the dough. Scoop out 1/2-tablespoon-sized scoops of the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat, or parchment paper. Place each scoop at least 3 inches apart since they will spread while baking.
- Preheat the oven. Preheat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. While you’re waiting, roll each scoop of cookie dough into a ball and then place it back on the baking sheet.
- Bake. Put the baking sheet in the oven on the center rack and bake for 8 minutes, turning once halfway, at the 4-minute mark.
- Melt the chocolate. While the lace cookies are baking, melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl until fully melted. Stir at intervals to make sure the chocolate doesn’t get scorched.
- Assemble the Florentine cookies. Take one cookie and spread a little bit of the melted chocolate on the back of it. Then place another cookie on top, the backside facing the chocolate.
- Set and serve. Allow the chocolate to set for about 1-2 hours. Then serve.
Tips for the best lace cookies
- Use almond flour- Almond flour or fresh-ground almonds are responsible for not just the delicious flavor, but also the texture of these lace cookies. If you replace almond flour with all-purpose, these cookies will not spread to become thin and crispy, so stick with the almonds.
- Trim the edges of your cookies- If your cookies come out a little irregular, you can trim them with scissors into circles, so they sandwich together just right.
- Keep an eye on your melted chocolate- When microwaving chocolate, stop it every 15-30 seconds to give it a stir. This keeps the chocolate from scorching and not being heated a moment more than necessary.
Flavor Variations to try
These Lace Cookies with Chocolate are so good, but you can also try them with a few variations, too. It’s common to add Orange extract or zest to the batter for a citrusy flavor. Or you can try a different filling, like Nutella, White Chocolate, or Peanut Butter. While almond flour is best here, you could also use Oat Flour as a substitute if you have a nut allergy. You could also enjoy these with Dried Fruit added in, like cherries, cranberries, or figs.
How to Store these cookies
To store these Florentine cookies, place them in an airtight container with parchment paper in between the layers. The lace cookies can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Can I make lace cookies ahead of time?
Yes, you can make these ahead to save time! You can take the cooled cookie dough you’ve prepared and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, then refrigerate it for up to 3 days. Let it come to room temperature, then complete the baking and add the chocolate filling. OR you can take your baked and filled florentine cookies and place them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.
More yummy cookie recipes
- Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
- Linzer Cookies with Raspberry Jam
- Monster Cookies
- Double Chocolate Cookies (VIDEO)
- Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Watch the Full video on how to make these Florentine Lace cookies!
Full Recipe Instructions
Lace Cookies with Chocolate (Florentine Cookies)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup almonds finely chopped
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup golden brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate melted
Instructions
- Place 1 1/2 cups of whole raw almonds into a food processor and pulse them on high speed until they chop up into fine crumbs. Then set them aside.
- In a medium saucepan add 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup honey. Stir using a metal whisk.
- Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat off and remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Then stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 3 tbsp all-purpose flour.
- Now, use a spatula to mix in the finely chopped almonds. 
- Then scoop out about 1/2 tablespoon-sized scoops of the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. If you don’t have a silicone mat, parchment paper works too. But the mats will result in more even baking.
- Make sure to place each scoop of the lace cookie dough at least 3 inches apart. They will spread a lot when they bake.
- Now preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Then take each piece of cookie batter and roll it out to a ball, and place it half onto the baking sheet.
- Place each baking sheet in the center rack (one at a time). Then bake for 8 minutes making sure to turn once after 4 minutes.
- While the cookies are looking, melt 1 1/2 cups of semisweet chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl until fully melted. Always be sure to do this in intervals with stirring in between to avoid scorching the chocolate.
- Now take 1 Florentine cookie and gently spread a little bit of the melted chocolate on the back of it, then place a similar sized cookie on top. So you want the back of each cookie to sandwich the chocolate in between them.
- Let the chocolate set for about 1-2 hours before serving.
Notes
- Use almond flour- Almond flour or fresh-ground almonds are responsible for not just the delicious flavor, but also the texture of these lace cookies. If you replace almond flour with all-purpose, these cookies will not spread to become thin and crispy, so stick with the almonds.
- Trim the edges of your cookies- If your cookies come out a little irregular, you can trim them with scissors into circles, so they sandwich together just right.
- Keep an eye on your melted chocolate- When microwaving chocolate, stop it every 15-30 seconds to give it a stir. This keeps the chocolate from scorching and not being heated a moment more than necessary.
Nutrition
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Cy says
We made the cookies and we used measurements but they didn’t spread with thin air cookie
Do you think we need to use almond flour instead of all purpose flour?
Dina says
There is a chance that the cookie mixture might have been overcooked. I have had something like this happen to me in the past when I overcooked the cookie batter in the saucepan.
Janice says
These cookies came out delicious! I really impressed myself. Lol. So easy to make. To get them in a perfect matching circle I used a round cookie cutter. I let them cool for a minute or so and then pressed the cookie cutter into them. When they were fully cooled the edges easily broke off. These cookies are now part of my annual holiday baking.
Dina says
Wow, Janice that is so awesome! I am so honored that these cookies made it to your annual holiday baking routine. Thank you so much for your sweet feedback. I really appreciate it!
Karen E says
I just found your YouTube channel today and was very happy to see how simple your recipes seemed to be.
It had me seeking our your web page to try making these. I appreciate all you are sharing with us.
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you so much, Karen! You have no idea how much this means to me 🙂 I am so happy you found my website!
Chelle says
Looks good! Can i use almond flour instead of the ground almonds?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Chelle, technically you can. It just won’t have the same texture. Hope you love these Lace cookies 🙂
Rita says
Hi Dina,
Can I replace the regular all purpose flour to rice flour to make it gluten free. Thanks
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Rita, technically yes but I have never tried it with rice flour. I know that rice flour can have a stickier consistency. Corn starch would also be a good alternative. Hope that helps 🙂 I hope you love these Lace cookies!