Baci di dama are traditional Italian cookies made from eggless dough enriched with almonds and hazelnuts. They are made of two cookie domes sticked together with melted chocolate.
Just follow our step-by-step recipe and have fun while making baci di dama cookies. This recipe uses a combination of hazelnuts and almonds, both toasted to intensify the flavour, which pairs well with rich dark chocolate.
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Italians are famous for delicious cookies and baci di dama are among the most iconic ones. These elegant cookies from Piedmont in Italy's north are just what you'd expect from cookies, sweet and delicate.
You will find them in Italy often packaged in beautiful tins and boxes for giving as gifts around Christmas. Baci di dama literally means "lady's kisses" as they look like two lips holding together a chocolate kiss.
If you love Italian cookies, we suggest you to try our soft amaretti cookies or one of biscotti cookies - classic almond, chocolate hazelnut or gluten-free version with almond flour.
For these delicious Italian cookies you will need a short list of ingredients:
The cookies consist of a simple shortbread dough enriched with nuts. The original baci di dama recipe uses hazelnuts but we opted for a combination of hazelnuts and almonds. This mix gives amazing nutty flavour accented by toasting them.
For filling use good quality dark chocolate with at least 60% cocoa. Use any brand you trust and usually use in your chocolate cookies and desserts (we love Nestle dark chocolate).
Making the dough is fairly easy and simple once you have all the ingredients ready. Just combine all dry ingredients in one bowl, cut room temperature butter and form a compact dough.
First the texture will be like coarse crumbs then as you squeeze the butter will start to incorporate into the dry ingredients. Next step is forming 4 logs from the dough and keeping them the fridge to firm up.
For shaping baci di dama you don't need any special equipment. Just take the logs and cut using a sharp knife slices (around 10g each), then roll into small balls.
These balls will spread during the baking so arrange them on the baking sheet leaving some spaces between (3-4 cm).
Bake cookies until they are just slightly brown on the top and bottom - they should still be soft once taken from the oven. Don't touch cookies until they are enough firm to handle (they will be very soft and fragile). Cool them completely on the wire rack.
Melting the chocolate is so easy. Break the chocolate bar into smaller pieces and place in a heatproof bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until completely smooth and melted. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
Be sure to use quality dark chocolate with a minimum of 60% cocoa for an intense chocolate flavour.
Place a dollop of melted chocolate onto the flat side of one cookie and place another cookie on top. Place the cookies on a wire cooling rack until the chocolate is firm. To speed up the hardening of the chocolate, place the cookies in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Baci di dama cookies should be stored in an airtight container, separated one layer from another with baking paper, for up to 1 week.
CATEGORIES: Cookies, Italian Inspired, Christmas,
Chocolate, Almond, Hazelnut
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