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Baci di Dama Cookies Recipe
Baci di Dama are delicious Italian cookies with a crumbly texture that melts in your mouth. They are small dome-shaped cookies made of butter and almonds - or hazelnuts - joined together with dark chocolate.The shape of the two touching hemispheres is a resemblance of a woman's lips ready for a kiss. Hence the romantic name: lady's kisses!
Ingredients
- 150 g flour - 1 cup
- 150 g granulated sugar - ¾ cup
- 150 g unsalted butter - 1 ⅓ stick (cold)
- 150 g almonds - ~5 oz, or hazelnuts
- 100 g dark chocolate - 3.5 oz, for the filling
Instructions
THE DOUGH
- Arrange the almonds on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Toast them at 180° C (350 F) for about 10 minutes.
- Be careful, they should not toast so much that they become brown, but only lightly golden, otherwise they turn out bitter. Let them cool completely.
- Transfer the almonds, along with half the granulated sugar, to a bowl.mGrind them at full speed but in pulses, to prevent the almonds from releasing too much oil. You should get a fine, homogeneous flour.
- Transfer the chopped almonds to the bowl of your standing mixer. Then add the flour, cold cubed butter and the remaining sugar.
- Insert the K-hook and knead the mixture at low speed until the dough is smooth.
THE BAKING
- Form a loaf and cover in plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- After this time, remove the dough from the refrigerator and, with your hands, form small balls about 1 cm in diameter (about ½ inch). It's essential that the balls are ALL THE SAME SIZE and small. About 4 g in weight each (0.14 oz). The balls should be round and not squashed, otherwise they will flatten a lot during baking.
- Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with baking paper about 2 cm (about 1 inch) apart. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 170°C (338°F) for 15 minutes. At the end, the cookies should be just golden and clear, but not browned.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. DO NOT TOUCH THEM at this step because thy are still soft. They will solidify as they cool.
THE FILLING
- Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler. Let it cool a little so that it's not too liquid but firm enough.
- With a teaspoon, scoop out a small amount of chocolate and lay it on top of a cookie, on the flat side. Now stack another cookie on top and let the chocolate solidify, which serve as a "glue" between the two cookies.
- Your Italian Baci di Dama cookies are ready! Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee, they are a sweet treat for any time of the day.
Notes
PLEASE NOTE:
- This Baci di Dama recipe is made with chopped almonds, which is the most popular version in Italy today. This does not exclude that you can use chopped hazelnuts as well. The recipe does not change.
- You can even use almond flour (or hazelnut flour) instead of chopped almonds/hazelnuts. Beware, however, that you are going to lose the roasted almond/hazelnut aroma, typical of these Italian cookies.
Nutrition
Serving: 100gCalories: 92kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 1gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 1mgPotassium: 50mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 95IUCalcium: 13mgIron: 1mg
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