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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!

Vegan & Gluten-free Florentines

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.

What you’ll need to make these vegan & gluten-free Florentines:

Rice syrup – It works really well because it’s super sticky. Almost the texture of honey. You can use honey if you don’t need your Florentines to be vegan. Maple syrup is another alternative. 

Coconut oil – traditionally made with butter, I decided to use coconut oil to make the recipe dairy-free. Butter or a dairy-free butter alternative will also work.

Oats – blended into a flour to use as a substitute to regular flour.

Dried fruit – I opted for dried cranberries seeing as it’s almost Christmas and I always have some in my cupboard this time of year. You can also use dried apricots or cherries. 

Nuts – Pistachios are my go-to nut. I just LOVE them! I also used flaked almonds. Any nut will work.

Dark chocolate – To spread over the bottom of the Florentines to make them extra special and luxurious. You can omit if you want or use milk/white chocolate. 

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

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!
5 from 9 votes
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 10
Calories 126 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 50g rice syrup you can also use honey or maple syrup
  • 30g coconut oil
  • 30g oat flour*
  • 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

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan/350F.
  • 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.

Notes

* Make your own oat flour by blending oats into a fine flour in a high-speed blender. Use gluten-free oats for a gluten-free recipe. 

Nutrition

Calories: 126kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 2gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gPotassium: 75mgFiber: 1gSugar: 7g
Keyword biscuits, christmas dessert, Christmas recipes, easy baking, Festive recipes, gluten-free, gluten-free cookies, vegan biscuits, vegan dessert
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