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Florentine Bars

November 25, 2020 By Ashley Leave a Comment

Christmas baking has began in my house, and what better way to start the season off than with these truly magical Florentine bars. Flavored with honey and orange, these caramel and almond topped shortbread bars are so delicious and so very hard to eat just one. Drizzle the bars with dark chocolate, and they rival any candy bar. These bars would make a beautiful addition to any cookie box or gift. and they ship really well too.

What are Florentines?

Florentine cookies, or lace cookies as they are sometimes called, are typically filled with nuts, dried and candied fruits. They are usually dipped in chocolate, and can be fickle to make in their traditional form. Traditional Florentines are delicate, chewy, sticky and absolutely amazing. One of my favorite cookies. To make my Florentines a bit easier to make, and ship to family, I put my Florentine mixture on a thin shortbread crust. Crisp, chewy and sticky and delicious.

How to make the shortbread crust

The shortbread crust is easily made in a food processor (yay for shortcuts!) and pressed into a lined 8×8 square pan. My trick for getting flat and even crust is to push it in with the flat side of a bench scraper. For you weirdos like me that must have a perfect looking, even crust, this method is super satisfying and makes for a super flat crust. The crust is baked until lightly golden and cooled.

How to make the caramel topping

While the crust cools, the sugar, corn syrup, and water are combined and heated until amber in color. Butter and honey are added followed by cream. orange zest, vanilla and salt. Toasted, sliced almonds and any other dried or candied druit are mixed into the caramel. Glacé cherries, dried cranberries, figs, or candied oranges are so good in these bars. You can also use any nut you like. Hazelnuts would be delicious. When the nuts and fruit are mixed in, the caramel is spread over the cooled crust. The bars are baked until bubbly.

When the bars are cooled, they are cut into servings. Whilst baking, the caramel seeps down the side and coats the sides shortbread. Sometimes I cut off the outside edges of the bars (and I eat them, obvs) so that you can see the crust and topping, especially if I’m gifting these. Drizzle the bars with melted dark chocolate. Once the chocolate sets, the bars can be wrapped in parchment and tied off with twine or a decorative. Stack the wrapped bars in cookie boxes and they make a gorgeous gift.

If you make these Florentine bars, let me know! Drop a comment or tag me on Instagram. I love seeing your creations.

Enjoy!

Ash xx

For more holiday cookie recipes, check out these posts:

Snowflake Sugar Cookies

Brown Butter Maple Pecan Cookies

Espresso Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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Florentine Bars

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time55 mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: -12 servings

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

1 ¼ cups (210g) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, cold

Caramel Topping

3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (76ml) water
1 tablespoon corn syrup
6 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup (84ml) honey
1/2 cup (114ml) heavy cream
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 cups (172g) sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup (70g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F and line an 8x8 pan with two pieces of parchment paper which extend over the sides to give you a ‘"handles" (this helps with removing the slice easily once it is set).
In the bowl of a food processor, place the flour, sugar, and salt, and pulse to combine.
Add the butter and pulse until the mixture begins to form clumps.
Press the dough into the prepared pan, then level and smooth it with a bench press or measuring cup. Chill the crust for 10 minutes.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the shortbread is pale golden. Let cool completely.
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup. Stir just to mix. Bring to a boil and heat until the mixture reaches 350F on a candy thermometer, or is amber in color.
Remove from the heat, and whisk in the butter and the honey. Be careful as it will steam and bubble.
Place back onto the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the heavy cream and the orange zest.
Cook the mixture until it reaches 250F on a candy thermometer.
Remove from the heat and add the almonds (and any other fruit or nuts you wish to add).
Immediately pour the caramel mixture over the shortbread crust, using a spatula to smooth out the mixture.
Bake the bars until the caramel begins to bubble, about 15-18 minutes.
Let the bars cool completely. Run a knife or spatula around the pan between the parchment and pan to loosen any caramel that may have escaped.
Remove the bars from the pan. Cut into bars or squares.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave at 30 second increments until melted and smooth.
Transfer the chocolate to a piping bag or a zip top bag and drizzle the bars with chocolate. You can also drizzle the chocolate with a fork.
Let the chocolate firm up before serving. Serve at room temperature.

Blackberry Pie Bars

August 26, 2020 By Ashley Leave a Comment

Blackberries are easily the prettiest berry in my opinion, but strangely the most under utilized berry in my house. We don’t eat them enough, and it’s a shame because they’re so, so good. This past weekend when I was in the mood for a sweet treat, with blackberries on my mind, I made these blackberry pie bars. Ripe, juicy blackberries sit on top of a buttery shortbread style crust, topped with an almond crumb topping, and baked until golden brown and bubbly. Buttery, and crumbly, with a deep sweet tart blackberry flavor, these bars are super delicious and highly addictive.

The crust

The crust for the blackberry pie bars is similar to a shortbread crust. The flour, sugars, salt, lemon zest and butter are combined in the food processor to make a crumbly dough. The dough will stick together if you remove a handful of the mixture out and give it a light squeeze. That’s how you know your butter is cut in properly, and the dough can be pressed into the pan. Before pressing the dough into the pan, reserve a cup of the flour/butter mixture for the topping.

I like to use the bottom of a measuring cup to evenly press in my dough. Once it’s evenly distributed, I use an offset spatula to make it super neat and level. I can’t help myself, I like to make a pretty crust before baking. It’s just one of my baking quirks. The crust gets baked until it’s golden brown, then cooled before adding the blackberry filling.

The topping

Remember that cup of the flour mixture we reserved when making the crust? That is also being used as the topping. Add a little bit of spice by adding some cinnamon, then use your fingertips to work the mixture together a bit to form some larger clumps. You can toss in the toasted almonds at this point, or wait to just sprinkle on after sprinkling on the crumb topping.

The blackberry filling

While the crust is baked, and is cooling, make the blackberry filling. I like to macerate the berries for just a little bit while the crust cools so that the filling is a bit more jammy. I used fresh blackberries, but you can use frozen. Defrost and drain them before using. Cut the berries into halves, or quarters if they’re huge, toss them with a bit of sugar, and lemon juice and let them rest, stirring occasionally. When the crust has cooled, and is just warm, combine the cornstarch with the berries and pour onto the crust. Bake the bars until the blackberries are bubbling around the edges and the topping has baked to golden brown.

The blackberries create this thick and juicy deep purple jam when they bake. The crust is buttery, crumbly, and a bit caramel-y from the brown sugar. The blackberries make the crust around edges of the bars sticky and chewy from the juices seeping down the sides before setting up – easily my favorite part. So, so good. And that almond crumb topping just makes these bars. Buttery and crunchy, with a hint of spice, these bars are the perfect way to use up those summer blackberries.

For more summer treats, check out these posts:

Brown Butter Stone Fruit Tart

Strawberry Rose Buttermilk Cake

Honey Cardamom Peach Galettes

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Blackberry Pie Bars

Ripe, juicy blackberries are baked on top of a buttery shortbread style crust, topped with an almond crumb topping, until golden brown and bubbly.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Course: Dessert

Servings: 2x2 squares

Ingredients

Crust and Topping

2 ¼ cup (312g) all purpose flour
1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup (32g) sliced almonds, toasted

Blackberry Filling

2 1/2 cups fresh blackberries, halved
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 ½-2 tablespoons cornstarch, use the higher amount if the berries are really juicy

Instructions

Heat the oven to 375F. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Pulse to combine.
Add the butter cubes to the flour mixture. Pulse until the mixture starts to clump together but is still sandy.
Remove 1 cup of the mixture, and turn out the remaining mixture into the prepared pan.
Lightly press the dough evenly into the pan. Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown.
Add the cinnamon to the reserved 1 cup of the flour mixture and combine. Use the tips of your fingers to squeeze the dough together to make clumps for the topping. You don't want this part to be sandy.
Add the almonds (or you can wait to sprinkle them on at the before baking), and place the crumbs into the refrigerator to keep chilled.
Place the blackberries, lemon juice, and sugar in a medium bowl. Toss to combine. Let the blackberries sit and macerate while the crust cools.
When the crust is just warm, add the cornstarch to the blackberry mixture and mix until combined.
Pour the blackberry filling onto the crust.
Evenly sprinkle the crumbs and almonds on top of the blackberry filling.
Bake the bars for 35-45 minutes, until the blackberries and juices are bubbling around the edges and the topping is golden brown.
Allow the bars to cool completely before serving.

Lavender Lemon Shortbread Bars

September 11, 2018 By Ashley 2 Comments

I absolutely love using lemons in cooking and baking. They’re bright, flavorful and so refreshing, easily making them one of my favorite flavors in both sweet (and savory) cooking. My favorite pasta recipe has lemon in it and, truth be told, I’d chose a citrus-y dessert over a chocolate one any day – like these lavender lemon shortbread bars.

I made quite a few batches of these bars when recipe testing, and while I usually test bake things and give them away to friends and neighbors, these lavender lemon shortbread bars didn’t get the chance to leave my kitchen. Each batch was consumed so quickly that I had to fight to get a piece to test the recipe. They’re that good.

I’ve had many great lemon meringue pies and lemon cream tarts over the years, but until I developed this recipe, I wasn’t too impressed with lemon bars. I’ve made and tried many lemon bars over the years and have had some decent ones, but could never find one that was worth the calories. This lemon lavender shortbread bar has a buttery, rich shortbread crust that doesn’t become a soggy mess, a perfect balance of tart and sweet filling (more on the tart side preferred – especially if the tops of the bars are going to be loaded with confectioner’s sugar) and the right ratio of filling to crust. I prefer my lemon bars more custardy with a smooth texture, and this one does not disappoint.

In this recipe, I’ve added lavender to the shortbread crust. I urge you to keep the lavender in this recipe even if you have tried lavender in desserts before and didn’t like it. It is true that lavender can be soapy and overwhelming if overused but that is not the case in this recipe. The lavender is subtle, but compliments and amplifies the lemon flavor. It’s beautifully fragrant and absolutely addictive in this recipe.

The shortbread crust starts like many others, by combining the ingredients in a food processor and pulsing, allowing the lavender to break up and blend into the other ingredients before adding softened butter. While the mixture is sandy and clumpy, it is pressed into a pan evenly and set in the refrigerator to chill for 20-30 minutes. After chilling, the crust is baked until it is a light golden brown.

While the crust is towards the end of baking, the lemon zest and the sugar are mixed together in a bowl. Rub the zest into the sugar. This releases the oils in the zest adding even more lemon flavors to the bars. Flour is then added, to thicken up the filling, followed by eggs, lemon juice and heavy cream. While the crust is still warm, pour the ingredients onto the crust and bake at a reduced temperature until the center has a slight jiggle. It’s better to err on the side of slightly under baked than over baked. You want that filling to remain more of a custard and not super solid.

While I have to admit that many times I’ve dug into these lavender bars with a fork while still hot because they are THAT good, they are best served cut into squares or wedges at room temperature and finished with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar.

Love citrus desserts? Check out these recipes:

Meyer Lemon Ginger Tart with Toasted Honey Meringue

Chocolate Dipped Key Lime Pops

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5 from 1 vote

Lavender Lemon Shortbread Bars

Bright, fresh, sweet-tart and citrusy lemon bars with the addition of subtle, fragrant lavender in a crumbly shortbread crust.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Chill30 mins

Total Time1 hr 45 mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 3x3 squares

Ingredients

For the shortbread base:

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes, room temperature
1 1/4 cups unbleached, all purpose-flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 - 3/4 tsp dried culinary lavender

For the lemon filling:

1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
3 tbsp all purpose flour
Pinch of fine sea salt
4 large eggs
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup heavy cream

Instructions

For the Shortbread Crust:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8x8 or 9x9 square baking pan with parchment paper.
In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, salt and lavender until well blended. You want the lavender to be dispersed and chopped up a bit.
Add in the cubes of softened butter and pulse until the mixture is sandy and starts to form clumps.
Gently press shortbread mixture into an even layer over the bottom of the prepared pan. Refrigerate for a minimum 30 minutes.
Bake crust for 30-35 minutes or until the crust starts to turn a golden brown.
Remove shortbread from the oven, let it cool slightly and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees F.

For the lemon filling:

In a medium bowl, rub together the sugar and lemon zest between your hands to release the oils from the zest. Whisk in the flour until blended.
Add the eggs and whisk briskly so that the sugar doesn't "cook" the eggs and form clumps.
Add the lemon juice and cream and whisk to fully incorporate.
Pour filling over the warm shortbread and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, until the center jiggles slightly.
Let the bars cool to room temperature, about two hours. The longer they cool, the easier and prettier they are to slice. Transfer bars to a cutting board and cut into squares or wedges. Using a sieve, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and serve.