Gluten Free Florentines (lacy Italian Cookies)

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr 20 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups planter's sliced almonds, chopped
• 1 tablespoon rice flour
• 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 8 ounces ghirardelli dark chocolate chips

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 350 degrees positioning the rack in the center of the oven.
• 2 line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• 3 in a medium bowl, mix almonds, flour and zest.
• 4 heat a saucepan to medium heat and stir the sugar, butter, cream, and honey until the sugar dissolves. bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat.
• 5 stir in the almond mixture. cool for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. using 2 teaspoons of batter for each cookie (it will not seem like enough, but the cookies will spread while cooking), spoon 8 mounds of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet and flatten each one slightly with your finger.
• 6 bake the cookies about 10 minutes until they are lacy (holes in them) and golden brown.
• 7 slide parchment paper with cookies to a rack to cool completely. then transfer the cookies to paper towels. repeat with the remaining batter.
• 8 freezing: cool completely and put in an airtight container in your freezer for up to two months! (imagine having your holiday cookies done in october!). defrost before continuing with recipe.
• 9 sandwich cookies: stir the chocolate in a double boiler (or bowl set over simmering water) until the chocolate melts. spread the melted chocolate over the bottom of 1 cookie and then sandwich with another cookie. repeat with the remaining cookies.