Baci Di Dama

The Baci di Dama (in english Lady’s Kisses) are delicious cookies originating in the Piedmont town of Tortona, so called because they consist of two cups of cookie dough filled with chocolate that recall a pair of lips to kiss intent.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
2 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped (it would be better with gianduia chocolate, chopped )

Directions

Put the hazelnuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse them until very fine.
Transfer the ground nuts to a bowl and sift in the flour. Cut the butter into pieces then add the butter, sugar, and salt to the dry ingredients. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together until the butter is dispersed and completely incorporated. The dough should be very smooth and hold together. If not, knead it until it does. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each piece until it’s 3/4-inch round. Try to get them as smooth as possible, with no cracks. Chill the dough in the fridge on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cut the dough in equal-sized pieces using a knife or pastry cutter. The ideal is 5 grams each, if working with a scale. Once you’ve cut a length of dough, roll the pieces into nice little balls and place them on the baking sheet, slightly spaced apart.
If you don’t have a scale, simply roll the dough to the size of a marble, trying to keep them as similar in size as possible.
Bake the cookies for around 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets in the oven midway during cooking, until the tops are lightly golden brown. Let the cookies cool completely.

In a clean, dry bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate until smooth. Put a chocolate chip-sized dollop of chocolate on the bottom of one cookie and take another cookie, and sandwich the two halves together.
(I used the tip of the handle of a teaspoon)
Once filled, set the Baci di Dama sideways on a wire cooling rack until the chocolate is firm.

Buon Appetito =)