I thought I’d start this blog by posting the recipe of my all time favourite cookies. Their name means “lady’s kisses” because their shape resembles a kiss. They are originally from Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. They are not a family recipe, but these cookies bring back lots of happy childhood memories. They have always been my favourites and my mother would usually buy me a few from the local pastry shop as a treat when I was down with the flu. Now that I live far away and I cannot find them in the shops, I have learnt how to make them myself, so I can bake them for my daughters whenever they get sick (and not only!!!).
Ingredients for 35-40 cookies:
200 gms of almond or hazelnut meal
200 gms of flour
200 gms of softened unsalted butter
200 gms of sugar
80/100 gms of dark cooking chocolate
Mix together the almond meal, the sieved flour, the butter and the sugar and knead into a smooth dough. Make it into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Then make 70-80 small balls (2 cm) and put them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160C for 15 minutes. When ready, let the cookies cool down. In the meantime, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave and let it cool until it thickens. Then stick 2 cookies together with a little bit of melted chocolate. Put them in the fridge for 15 minutes and then serve.
You can also try the chocolate version… just add 2 tablespoons of bitter cocoa powder to the dough.
yummy! i love this cookies!
These look really delicious….I am such a big fan of cookies made with nut meals.
I’m not sure which kissy cookie I like the best! Is it o.k. to break the cookie apart, eat the chocolate first then the cookies? 🙂
Hi Manu
Love the website! However when I baked the cookies they were flat as a pancake, can you help me?
Hi Racheal! Sorry to hear that! I am not sure why it happened… my only suggestion would be to try and put the cookies (already shaped into balls) in the freezer for a few minutes until hardened and then bake them. I do this when I make sugar cookies and I find that it helps to retain their shape. It may work in this case too as baci di dama do contain quite a bit of butter as well. I have not tried it myself… but let me know if it works. 🙂
Thanks Manu! I think I know what the problem is. I ground almonds instead of using almond flour. Next time I will use the flour.
Love, love, love your website!
Hi Racheal! I actually made a small batch of these this afternoon and I put them in the freezer like I said… they came out perfect. They may crack slightly on the surface, but that’s normal… they always do. The only thing is, cook them for about 20 to 25 minutes instead of 15 as they come out of the freezer… Let me know! 🙂
Also, when you melt the chocolate for the filling, make sure it cools down enough so that it thickens, or it will be a bit messy.
Sorry for all these imprecisions, it was one of the first recipes that I published and I still did not know how to explain things well. I will have to update it! 🙂
No problem!
These sound simple and DELICIOUS!! I think I will try them this weekend !