Scroll to the bottom of the post to get ALL the “12 Days” recipes from 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022!
Welcome to Day 8 of
The Twelve Days of Holiday Treats!
Once again, this year, from December 1st-12th I’ll post a new holiday treat recipe every day – inspiration for your holiday entertaining!
The recipes I’m sharing are small-er batch – each recipe makes 1-dozen or a few more smaller-sized treats that are simple to prepare and that use everyday ingredients and equipment so hopefully you’ll be able to whip up any of these on a whim. Check out the treats from 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 at the bottom of this post too for more inspiration!
Today’s treat was inspired by a recent Cook the Book Fridays recipe from Everyday Dorie and my chocolate financier loaf recipe. I do love a financier and Dorie’s chocolate-covered chai bars got me thinking about an iced financier cake… And after a bit of fiddling with a few different recipes, voilà!
It’s a gluten-free (using ground almonds and oat flour) small loaf that comes together in no time and that doesn’t *need* the chocolate glaze but it doesn’t *not need* it either 😉
Financiers typically aren’t glazed and they aren’t baked in a loaf tin but actually, making a larger sized one (still only makes 12 small pieces) is more in keeping with the *true* shape of a financier! I love them because they sound (and often look) fancy, they don’t use many ingredients, the ingredients they do use are pantry and fridge staples and they don’t need any special equipment. Of course, if you are making them the traditional way, you’d use a special mold shaped like a gold bar.
What is a financier?
Essentially it’s a small tea cake made with almond meal and only a small quantity of all-purpose flour. A financier is a little more substantial than a madeleine. Because they only contain a little bit of flour, they are easy to make gluten-free. Here’s we’re using oat flour but you can use a gluten-free all-purpose blend too.
Why are they called “financiers”?
Financiers are a popular after-school (or anytime!) snack in France, typically small rectangular-shaped tea cakes made with almond flour. A version of them was originally baked in an oval shape by nuns of the Order of the Visitation and the cakes were called visitandines.
A clever baker working in Paris’s financial district in the 19th century saw how these cakes could be easily eaten on the go, and thought this would appeal to his busy banker clientele. He shaped the cakes like gold bars and named them financiers as a nod to both his clientele and the surrounding district.
They now come in various shapes, including rectangles and ovals. For individual cakes, I always use a mini muffin pan because they work well to give you a good crunchy exterior/ fluffy interior ratio.
What’s better than a financier? A full-sized financier!
Here, we’re making a full-sized financier loaf that makes 12 small bars. And, coincidentally, it’s the right shape too! It comes together in just a few minutes so you can go from craving a fancy chocolate cake to enjoying one in just over an hour!
Simple cleanup!
One of the things I love about financiers is how fast they are to make and how little equipment they use – this one is even easier than making them in mini muffin tins because it’s ONE pan to wash, not 12 small cavities!
Iced Mocha Financier Bars (gluten-free)
Financiers in bar form with a chocolate glaze!
Ingredients
For the bars:
- 66g (2/3 cup) almond flour
- 23g (3 tablespoons) oat flour
- 45g (3 tablespoons) granulated sugar
- 10g (2 tablespoons) cocoa powder
- 10g (2 tablespoons) instant coffee powder
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 85g (6 tablespoons or 3/4 stick) salted butter, melted
For the glaze:
- Approx. 60g (a heaping half cup) chocolate chips
Instructions
Make the bars:
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease an 8-inch lof pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving some to hang over each edges to act as “handles” when removing from the pan.
- Whisk the almond flour, oat flour, sugar, cocoa powder and coffee powder in a small bowl.
- In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with electric beaters until they form soft peaks (approx. 2 minutes on high).
- Fold in the vanilla.
- Fold in the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until they are just combined.
- Pour the melted butter over the batter and gently fold in. It will take longer than you think to incorporate, but just keep at it and trust the process!
- When all the butter is incorporated, and the batter is smooth, pour it into the prepared loaf pan, shaking the pan slightly to distribute the batter evenly (you might need to smooth over the top with the back of a small spoon).
- Bake for approx. 25 minutes or until the cake is firm to the touch but still has some spring, and is slightly pulling away from the edges. A toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.
- Place the pan on a wire cooling rack for a few minutes then use the parchment to remove the cake from the pan and place it on the cooling rack to cool completely.
- Melt chocolate in a metal or ceramic bowl set over a pot of simmering water (or in a microwave at 50-60% power in bursts of 30 seconds until it's just about melted and then stir to melt the remainder).
- Use an offset spatula to smooth the chocolate over the top of the cake. Allow to set before cutting and serving.
To glaze:
Recommended Products
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SO good! Perfect for morning or afternoon tea, adult lunchboxes (because, nuts) or your holiday sweets table!
Come back tomorrow for Day 9 of the 12 Days of Holiday Treats and in the meantime…
Baking up a storm this holiday season?
(this is an affiliate link, but I genuinely use Nuts.com products and love them. Highly recommended if you are in the US/ Canada where they currently ship)
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Please note: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This means that if you click over and purchase something, I will receive a very small percentage of the purchase price (at no extra cost to you). Thank you in advance!
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Check out 2022’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Chocolate Peppermint Creme Cups
Day 2: Chocolate-Dipped Wafer Cookies
Day 3: Gingerbread madeleines
Day 4: Funfetti Cookies
Day 5: Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Day 6: Coffee Financiers
Day 7: No-Bake Strawbery Cheesecake Cups
Day 8: Holiday Joys
Day 9: Holiday Spice Marmalade
Day 10: Soft Molasses Cookies
Day 11: Coconut Roughs
Day 12: Holiday Lights Jam Sandwich Cookies
Check out 2021’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Speculoos financiers
Day 2: Chocolate Dipped Orange Sugar Cookies
Day 3: Madeleines à la Clémentine
Day 4: Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies
Day 5: Sunbutter and Jam Chocolate Cups
Day 6: Hot Chocolate and Marshmallow Cookies
Day 7: Linzer Cookies
Day 8: Chocolate-Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies
Day 9: Choc-Mint Thumbprint Cookies
Day 10: Pailles (Puff Pastry and Jam Cookies)
Day 11: Strawberry Santa Hats
Day 12: Mulled Wine Jam
Check out 2020’s 12 Days of Holiday Treats:
Day 1: Rice Krispie Wreaths
Day 2: Cranberry Cheesecake Bars
Day 3: Peppermint Bark
Day 4: Orangettes
Day 5: Rocky Road Chocolate Crackle Slice
Day 6: Candy Cane Sugar Cookies
Day 7: Orange Pim’s
Day 8: Mendiants
Day 9: Chewy Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies
Day 10: Apricot, Coconut and Cranberry “truffles”
Day 11: Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Brownies
Day 12: Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Check out 2019’s 12 Days of Holiday Cookies:
Day 1: Easy Three Ingredient Shortbread
Day 2: Jam Drops
Day 3: Chocolate Caramel Slice
Day 4: Melting Moments
Day 5: White Christmas
Day 6: Langues de Chat
Day 7: Chocolate Coconut Slice
Day 8: Cornflake Biscuits
Day 9: Rocky Road
Day 10: Honey Joys
Day 11: Rum Ball Truffles
Day 12: Giant Florentine Cookie (to share)
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