Almond & Chocolate Florentine Cookie Bars

I made these bar cookies & they are very nice. These are gluten-free & good for Passover!

I saw this recipe from JEWISH FOOD EXPERIENCE & they say the recipe is from The Holiday Kosher Baker 2013 by Paula Shoyer & they had permission to reprint it…hope no one minds me writing it up in my own words! I admire people who make up recipes…

It is simple to make & doesn’t take much time at all. Appropriate for Passover too!

I will be making these often as they are a really nice addition to any dessert or with a cup of tea!

They are very sweet & the recipe calls for adding orange zest which i did but I won’t add it next time. I do not like the taste of the orange & I should have known better since I do not like orange & chocolate together…but if you do…then add the orange

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

1 cup icing sugar… to make this for passover... I put 1 cup of regular sugar in the food processor & combined it with 1 tbsp potato starch

3 large egg whites

optional … zest of one large orange or 2 teaspoons of orange juice

1/4 cup dried cranberries…chopped… I cut them in half.

1 1/3 cup sliced almonds

1 cup chocolate chips…. I used parve chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 325f

Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper so that it comes up the sides… this will allow you to lift the cookie bar out of the pan… grease the parchment..I use a cooking spray. TIP to get the corners to lay flat.. using scissors make a cut at the corner from the top to the bottom & then overlap them to make a smooth corner

1. Mix the sugar, egg whites & orange if using..
2. Add the nuts & cranberries & mix together, folding the nuts & fruit in, being careful not to break up the nuts
3. Put the mixture into the prepared pan.. rather then putting it all in at once, I spooned it in so that it spread out evenly
4. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the nuts are brown
5. Put the dish onto a wire rack & let cool for 1 hour…otherwise the bar will break when you remove it from he pan
6. When ready, pull up on the parchment sides ..gently…& remove the bar from the pan, now you will turn it over so the recipe suggests taking another piece of parchment paper, putting on the top & turning the bar over. Remove the piece of parchment from the bottom of the bar
7. Now, melt the chocolate chips. Use the microwave, it is quick & easy…start at 30 seconds, stir & then heat up for another 15 seconds or the time needed to melt the chips
8. Evenly spread the chocolate over the bar using a spatula
9. Slide the bar onto a cookie sheet & put in the freezer to firm up or the fridge if you have longer…Note I put it in the freezer & forgot about it, so when I took it out to cut I had to wait for it to defrost enough to allow me to cut it!
10. Cut into pieces.. I cut mine into small triangles..they are sweet so I made the pieces small
11. The recipe says it can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days… or freeze for up to 3 months

Enjoy!!!