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Gluten Free Alchemist

Positively Coeliac - Adventurously Gluten Free

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Home » Gluten Free Sweet Treats » Biscuits & Cookies » Baci di Dama Cookies – gluten free

Biscuits & Cookies Christmas Gluten Free Sweet Treats

Baci di Dama Cookies – gluten free

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These are divine. My daughter has declared them the best cookies she’s tasted….. Although I wouldn’t go quite that far, they are pretty damn good.

Baci di Dama – which in Italian apparently means “Lady’s Kisses’ are little Italian hazelnut biscuits, sandwiched together with dark chocolate. They originate from the Piedmont region where the best Italian hazelnuts are grown, and have been traced back to a small town called Tortona, where they appeared in the latter half of the 19th century.

One legend suggests they were made a by a chef who was trying to impress King Vittorio Emanuelle, by shaping them to remind him of a kiss between two lovers. I have no idea what the truth is, but Mr chef…….. you can come and impress me any time…… these little bites of hazelnutty deliciousness are just amazing.

Traditionally made with wheat flour, there are a number of gluten-free copies on the internet, some of which seem closer to the traditional recipe than others. The recipe that I stumbled across when looking for something completely unconnected was one from David Lebovitz, which is definitely in the category of ‘keeps as close to the original as possible’.

The recipe however suggests using rice flour, which in its usual form tends to produce a rather gritty bake. To get away from this, I substituted a portion of the usual rice flour for glutinous rice flour, which I first used here, and is easily sourced through Asian supermarkets and delis. Glutinous rice flour (which contains no gluten) has a much finer, slightly sticky quality, which I thought would make the bake a little smoother. As a consequence though, I have had to slightly amend the recipe as it progressed through the making, to add a little more butter, as the dough was reluctant to come together. I think the flour sucked up more moisture than expected, but an extra 20g of butter did the trick perfectly.

The texture of these Baci di Dama is crisp yet soft…….. reminiscent of Viennese biscuits…… a good snap as you bite, which then melts in the mouth, revealing crunchy tiny pieces of roasted hazelnut and a wash of dark chocolate. Dangerously moreish unfortunately!

They are really easy to make too….. You just need a bit of time to allow the dough to chill before you roll it into balls (otherwise the result will be a crumbly mess) and enough patience to make absolutely sure your balls are even in size. I confess, I actually weighed each of mine as I prepared the dough-mounds…… That may sound a bit OCD, but really…… it is worth it if you want perfectly matched, evenly-baked kisses.

The David Leibovitz recipe is very detailed in method and definitely worth a look, but try as I might, I couldn’t get my dough to roll into an even sausage shape that could be cut, so gave up and just rolled one ball at a time. I also made mine 3 grams larger…….. I have a big mouth!

As the recipe was found completely randomly (and I had no intention of making biscuits this week at all), I am entering my Baci di Dama into Belleau Kitchen’s Random Recipe challenge. For October, the lovely Dom went all cyber-space on us and suggested we test our computer literacy skills with a random internet recipe search.

Sadly, I actually can remember a time when ‘social networking’ meant heading to the pub or gate-crashing a party and having a real live chat with real live people. But when it comes to cooking, I can honestly say that my world has been truly enriched by the wealth of experience and food creativity that I have found on the internet. Well done Dom…… great challenge!

Well I can’t keep these to myself can I?

Baci di Dama Cookies (slightly adapted from a David Lebovitz recipe) – makes approximately 30 cookies

Ingredients

140g hazelnuts – roasted, de-skinned and ground
80g glutinous rice flour
60g white rice flour
120g unsalted butter or good DF alternative – room temperature
100g caster sugar
pinch fine sea salt
80g good quality dark chocolate

Method

  1. Mix the ground hazelnuts and flours together in a large bowl.
  2. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour with the sugar and salt.
  3. Use hands to mix the ingredients together and knead until you have a smooth dough.
  4. Divide the dough into small pieces (I weighed mine at about 8g each) and bring together into rough ball shapes. The dough will be too soft to get perfect balls at this stage, but you want about 30 equal-sized, compact ‘lumps’.
  5. Place the lumps of dough on a lined baking tray and either chill in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours or in the freezer for about 15 minutes to harden.
  6. Pre-heat the oven to 170 C/325 F/Gas 3.
  7. When chilled, take each lump of dough and gently roll into an even ball in your hands. Place on a freshly lined baking sheet with a small space between each. If the dough becomes too soft to roll, place back in the fridge/freezer to re-harden.
  8. Re-chill the dough-balls before baking in the oven for about 15 minutes, swapping the baking trays in the oven part way through, to ensure an even bake. Remove when the tops are just golden brown (be careful not to over-bake).
  9. Remove from the oven and cool completely on the baking trays.
  10. When completely cold, melt the chocolate until smooth either in a small heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave (medium setting – 30 second bursts – stirring between each).
  11. Spoon a small blob of chocolate onto the centre of the flat side of a biscuit and sandwich together with a second biscuit.
  12. Continue this process until all the biscuits are used.
  13. Stand each biscuit sandwich upright on a wire rack to allow the chocolate to set.
Gluten Free Alchemist © 2013-14 unless otherwise indicated
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16 Comments

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Comments

  1. Alida says

    27/10/2014 at 12:55 pm

    I love baci di dama and you have made them really really well! Brava!

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      27/10/2014 at 8:18 pm

      Thanks Alida. That means a lot coming from a native!!!

      Reply
  2. Baking Addict says

    26/10/2014 at 10:35 pm

    Oooh these look divine! If your daughter thinks they are the best cookies ever then I'm sure they are! Where's my portion? 🙂

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      27/10/2014 at 8:17 pm

      Thanks Ros….. Sorry….. I ate them!

      Reply
  3. Alison says

    24/10/2014 at 9:24 am

    These look amazing love the addition of the hazelnuts. They look a little bit like macaroons as well.

    Reply
    • Gluten Free Alchemist says

      24/10/2014 at 10:51 pm

      Thanks Alison.

      Reply
  4. Lydia Gerratt says

    23/10/2014 at 7:42 am

    These look so delicous! I love any biscuit or cake made with hazelnuts, I'll have to try them out on my little boys too, #CookBlogShare

    Reply
    • Gluten Free Alchemist says

      23/10/2014 at 7:57 pm

      Thanks Lydia. Hazelnuts are definitely one of my favourite ingredients too. Let me know how it goes!

      Reply
  5. Katie says

    23/10/2014 at 5:22 am

    Wow weighing the dough is dedicated but it paid off as they look perfect! I love the sound of these, always wanted to try them. Hazelnut and chocolate is a match made in heaven. Love how cute and perfectly domed they are.

    Reply
    • Gluten Free Alchemist says

      23/10/2014 at 7:56 pm

      Not sure whether it's dedicated or nuts Katie. But they do meet the 'identical' test! Definitely try them. They are worth the effort.

      Reply
  6. Lucy Parissi says

    22/10/2014 at 7:38 pm

    I love the sound of these! Really lovely – can't believe you weighed them – that's attention to detail right there that I am lacking. Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare!

    Reply
    • Gluten Free Alchemist says

      23/10/2014 at 7:54 pm

      Thanks Lucy! Not sure whether I should be proud of my attention to detail or off to the doctor! I hear OCD is quite treatable!

      Reply
  7. Hay In A Day says

    22/10/2014 at 5:39 pm

    These sound right up my mans street! I may have to treat him and make them this weekend! They look yummy #recipeoftheweek

    Reply
    • Gluten Free Alchemist says

      23/10/2014 at 7:53 pm

      Thanks! Let me know how you get on…… hope you like them as much as we do!

      Reply
  8. belleau kitchen says

    22/10/2014 at 1:37 pm

    ahhh, gawd bless you for such lovely words… and these gorgeous biscuits. I'm assuming you made an extra batch for me and that they're on their way over to me as I type… ahem… i'm glad you enjoyed the challenge this month and ever so glad you entered random recipes x

    Reply
    • Gluten Free Alchemist says

      23/10/2014 at 7:51 pm

      Ha….. will pop them in the post now Dom!…………. Oh no…… they've all been eaten! Next time eh? x

      Reply

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Welcome to Gluten Free Alchemist.
I’m Kate – gluten free recipe developer, traveller, photographer, blogger and mum to a Coeliac teenager… living Coeliac life without limits.
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