Baci di dama is a classic Italian cookie created in Northern Italy in the 19th century and is still popular today.

Vera DawsonBaking Above It All

Vera DawsonBaking Above It All

Baci di dama is a classic Italian cookie created in Northern Italy in the 19th century and is still popular today.

Italian baked goods are some of the world’s best, characterized by strong flavors, rich textures and long histories. Baci di dama is a good example; it’s a classic Italian cookie created in Northern Italy in the 19th century and still popular today. Named “lady’s kisses” because it was thought to resemble a woman’s puckered lips (I know, I don’t see it either), it consists of two crisp hazelnut rounds that embrace a soft chocolate filling. There are numerous recipes for them, and all seem to have similarly pleasing results. The older ones feature a filling of melted chocolate and ground hazelnuts (see No. 1 below) while the more recent ones replace it with a commercial chocolate-hazelnut spread (No. 2 below) or a plain chocolate-and-butter filling (No. 3 below). They’re all good; the choice is yours.

Chilling the formed cookies before baking is the only change I make to the recipe at high altitude. This additional step helps prevent them from spreading in the oven, a persistent problem when baking cookies at our elevation. If you don’t have hazelnut flour, you can make it by processing skinned hazelnuts in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of the flour called for in the recipe until they’re very finely ground, stopping before they form a paste.

Makes: 3 dozen cookies; total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Make on 2 shiny metal cookie sheets; recipe works at any elevation.

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons hazelnut flour

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon bleached all-purpose flour, spoon and level

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

¾ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract, optional

1½ ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1½ ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons chocolate-hazelnut spread (like Nutella)

3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Preparation: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees, with a rack in the center position. Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Make the dough: Put the hazelnut flour, all-purpose flour and cornstarch in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine well. Add the butter and process until it disappears and the mixture is mealy. Add the sugar and vanilla (if using), and pulse until small clumps form. This takes a few minutes; if necessary, stop and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and stir contents. Dump the mixture out onto a sheet of waxed paper and gently knead until it comes together. If crumbly, knead in a little cool water.

Form and chill the cookies: Break off pieces of dough and roll them into balls just over ¾ of an inch in diameter (the size of a chocolate malted milk ball) and place them an inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. When one sheet is full, lightly cover the dough balls and place the sheet in the freezer until the balls are quite firm. Continue, filling and chilling the second cookie sheet.

Bake and cool the cookies: Bake one sheet at a time, until the balls are set and the bottoms have colored lightly, about 20 minutes depending how cold they are when placed in the oven. Remove to a rack to cool completely. Pair the cookies by size.

Make the filling: For No. 1: Place the 2 chopped chocolates and the milk in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at half power until the chocolates melt. Stir to combine, add the sugar and hazelnut flour, and stir until blended. Add more milk or more flour, if needed, to reach a consistency that spreads easily. For No. 2: If the chocolate-hazelnut spread is cold, warm it at a low temperature in a microwave to a temperature that spreads easily and stir it well. For No. 3: Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at low power until almost melted. Remove, cut the butter into tiny pieces, add them and stir vigorously until smooth and blended.

Fill the cookies: Scrape the filling into a small resealable plastic bag, close the bag and push the filling into a corner. Cut off the tip of the corner, creating ¼-inch opening, and gently squeeze the bag, piping about ½ teaspoon of filling in the middle of the bottom of one of the paired cookies. Place the top cookie, bottom side down, on the filling and press gently to distribute it evenly. Continue until all cookies are filled.

Store the cookies: Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to one week.

This recipe is a variation of one published by Helen Fletcher in Pastries Like a Pro.

Vera Dawson is a high-elevation baking instructor and author of three high-altitude cookbooks (available at Garcia Street Books in Santa Fe). Contact her at veradawson1@gmail.com.

Vera DawsonBaking Above It All

High altitude makes cookies spread, cakes fall, and few baked goods turn out as they do at sea level. This column presents tested recipes and tips that make baking at high elevations successful.

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