Financier Recipe, The Little French Cookie Cake (Paleo, Keto, Gluten free)

Keto Raspberry Financier Recipe

I am always amazed at how much I still have to learn about food. How is it that as a ten year plus food blogger, I’ve never had a French cookie/cake, financier. Scroll down for recipe which is in light blue block. 

Thank heavens for the latest edition of Southern Living, which posted a financier recipe I had to try. This week I baked five different versions until I developed a financier recipe I could share with you that was sugar free, keto friendly.

What is a financier?

Thomas Keller calls it a cookie. I call it a cake that has cookie elements. Made from nut flour and browned butter, it’s like a soft cake with a crispy golden brown edge. It’s perfect alone and often served with lemon curd and fruit.

It’s like a little tea cakes made with almond flour, sometimes a little hazelnut flour, and browned butter. It is typically shaped like a small bar and you can buy financier pans (amazon), or you can use muffin pans, or mini tart pans. I baked one batch in my whoopie pie pans, which will resemble more of a cookie, while the ones in mini muffins pans are naturally more like muffins.

The Financier Recipe

I tried three different recipes from three very qualified bakers; Southern Living Magazine, David Lebovitz, Thomas Keller.

Southern Living made their financier recipe with a mix of hazelnut, almond and all-purpose flour. I took a stab at making my own hazelnut flour and these turned out very tasty.

David Lebovitz makes his in mini muffin pans. He did not use baking powder. Thomas Keller makes the traditional bar shape, and shows a proper way to brown butter.

I learned something valuable from all three recipes and allowed them to morph into my own grain free, sugar free, keto friendly financier recipe.

How to Brown Butter for Financier Recipe

I followed Thomas Keller’s method for browning butter. Start with medium heat and keep stirring. The butter will bubble. Turn to medium high heat, continue to stir and as the bubbles lessen and when the butter turns a bit amber colored, its done. Immediately pour into a bowl.

Allow to cool, while gathering the rest of the ingredients. When you eventually pour the butter into the batter, which is the last step in this recipe, a dark sediment remains in the bowl. Pour that in too.

This Financier Recipe is Grain Free, Keto Friendly

I substituted the all -purpose flour with tapioca flour, and the sugar with Swerve’s granulated  (powdered erythritol).  Tapioca is high in carbs at 26 per 1/4 cup, but this, if you use the mini-muffin pan and make 12, the financier recipe is 4 net carbs per muffin.

Mistakes I made While Developing this Financier Recipe

I share my mistakes so you don’t have to make them.

• Adding baking powder to a wet batter. No one does this, but I did and it’s a long story why. It was actually baking soda and it caused my cookies to have a lot of holes. The taste, however, was still great.
• Adding too much swerve (powdered erythritol). I never put the full amount in the recipe. I hold back a tablespoon or two. Then I microwave a tablespoon of the batter and taste for sweetness. Eventually I discovered 1/2 cup was plenty.
• Using silicone to bake. Metal pans are better. IF YOU DO use silicone, bake for much longer because you want very browned edges.
• Forgetting to add fruit after a few minutes of baking. You have a small window and then it’s too late. When I made the mini muffins, I stuck the fruit in after about 3 minutes in the oven.
• Not browning the butter properly. You must stay at the stove and stir the butter or it separates and does not come back together. Patience in this step pays off.
• Making my own hazelnut flour. If you do want to make your own hazelnut flour, don’t bother to blanch. Just put in processor or Vitamix with skins on. I also found that roasting gives a taste I didn’t like. You can also order hazelnut flour here.
• I like the financier recipe using only almond flour just fine. If I happen to have a little hazelnut flour to mix in, I’ll do that (maybe 1/4 cup) but since hazelnut flour is expensive, I’ll stick to almond flour.

The Good News: Kitchen Tested Financier Recipe

I found the perfect recipe on my 5th try. Every recipe tasted good, but I needed a solid texture that I could count on and you could count on.

I use a full cup of almond flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, 1/2 cup swerve, 4 extra large egg whites, 100 grams of browned butter, baking powder and a little vanilla. Sticking fruit into the mini muffins is delightful. This will be a good breakfast treat or perfect for an afternoon tea.

I was able to get 12 mini muffins, or 6 small tarts. The small tarts make for a very special dessert as it’s gluten free, paleo and keto friendly and sugar free. Use the left over yolks for lemon budino. Add budino to financier and add fruit. Truly Special.

You will have yolks left over, which is why financiers are often served with lemon curd. You can use this meyer lemon curd recipe and adjust to 1/3 of the recipe for 4 egg yolks, use lemon juice in place of meyer lemon juice.

Please follow me on instagram to get all the fun stories, behind the scenes kitchen escapades.

More Keto Friendly Recipes from Spinach Tiger You Might Like

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Meyer Lemon Curd

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Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Financier Recipe, The Little French Cookie Cake (Paleo, Grain Free, GF)

Keto Friendly, Paleo Raspberry Financier made into mini-muffins

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time13 mins

Total Time23 mins

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: French

Servings: 12

Calories: 93kcal

Author: Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 100 grams browned butter see how to make below
• Baking spray
• 1 cup blanched almond flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour ORDER HERE or use more almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup Swerve granulated ORDER HERE
• 4 extra large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract ORDER HERE
• 12 raspberries

Optional Toppings

• Lemon Budino Recipe here (use yolks)
• Raspberries or Strawberries

Kitchen Tools

• mini muffin pans
• small tart pans

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Prepare pans with baking spray

Browned Butter

• Place butter into small sauce pan on medium heat. Using a wire whisk continue to stir. Once you see large bubbles, increase to medium high heat. Continue to stir until you see an almost amber color. Remove to a bowl to cool.
• Mix almond flour, tapioca flour, salt, swerve (or sugar) in bowl.
• Make a hole in flour. Add egg whites.
• Whisk together gently.
• Add in butter and vanilla. Mix.
• Spoon into the vessels of your choice.
• Bake for approximately 13 minutes until golden brown.
• That can be a mini muffin pan, financier pan, whoopie pie pan or mini tart pans.
• You will get 12 mini muffins, etc. and six using mini tart pans.

Nutrition

Calories: 93kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g

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