Hazelnut Lovers!!!! This is the best hazelnut cookies in HISTORY!!!! It is called Baci di dama. It means ladies' kisses in Italian, and I can see why! It is very easy to make, yet SOOOOOOOOOOOO delicious. I do not often like cookies, because American cookies tend to be too soft and sweet, but this.... is a BOMB! Enjoy and try not to eat too much!
Ingredients
1 1/4 Cups Hazelnuts
1 Cup Rice Flour (Or All-purpose Flour, I used half and half because I found it hard to make an adhesive dough just using rice flour)
7 Tbsp Butter, unsalted at Room Temperature
1/2 Cup Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate, preferably Bittersweet or Unsweetened
1. Toast and Skin the raw hazelnut. 325 Degree F for 5-10 minutes.
2. Then, using a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts till it's paste-like.
3. In a bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and the ground nuts. Briefly mix them together.
4. Cut the butter into pieces and work them into the dry ingredients.
5. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together until it is completely incorporated. The dough should be very smoth.
6. Divide the dough into 3 pieces, and roll each one into log. Chill them in the fridge for 2 - 3 hours or in freezer for 15 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 325 Degree F.
8. Get the dough out, and cut off equal-sized pieces using a knife. Ideal is 5 grams each. (A little bigger than a size of marble)
9. Roll the pieces into nice little balls and place them on the baking sheet.
10. Bake it for about 10-14 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely.
11. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.
12. Put a little chocolate on the bottom of one cookie, and sandwich it with another.
13. Set the cookies sideways until the chocolate is firm.