vegan florentines

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the coconut oil, almond butter, maple syrup, and flax in a saucepan. Melt gently over medium-low heat until the oils are melted. Stir everything together with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated. Then turn off the heat.

While you wait for the oils to melt, add the sliced almonds to a skillet over medium heat and toast just until golden (stirring frequently to prevent burning). Then chop the pistachios, dried figs, and orange peel and set them aside along with the almonds.

To the melted wet ingredients, add the cinnamon, cardamom, figs, orange peel, and nuts. Mix well.

Cover a baking tray with parchment paper and spoon heaping tablespoons of the nut mixture on to the sheet. Use a spoon or your hands to gently flatten each heaping tablespoon into a thin but continuous layer (don't leave holes) on the sheet. Leave an inch or so between each flattened cookie.

Bake the cookies for 6-8 minutes. In my tiny RV oven, 7 minutes is perfect, but each oven is different. You can always start by baking just one cookie as a test to nail down the timing for your oven before baking the remaining cookies.

Let the florentines cool on the tray for 5-10 minutes or until they are firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack. Then flip the cookies over while you transfer them to a cooling rack (so the backs are facing up and you can spread them with chocolate!). Let them continue to cool and crisp up for another 5-10 minutes on the rack.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate. You can use a double burner for the best results or just carefully heat the chocolate in 20 second increments in the microwave. Be sure to stir often and not over-heat the chocolate or it will lose its smooth texture. Spoon a couple teaspoons over each cookie and spread it over the back of the cookies in a smooth layer. Then let the florentines cool. They will take quite awhile at room temperature, so if you want to speed up the process, you can place them in the fridge.

Enjoy!!!