I made this recipe earlier today as I needed some rather lovely baked goods to help a friend feel better who is having a bit of a hard time. She already loves my chocolate brownies (who doesn't!) but I wanted something a little lighter and different. These special little morsels fit the bill perfectly and they are great with a cuppa, or two.
1 cup icing sugar
125g butter, softened
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup plain flour
Filling:
120g dark chocolate (I used Divine 70%)
Preheat your oven to 180C. Put the hazelnuts on an oven tray and toast them in the oven for 3 - 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on them as they can go from not toasting to burnt and bitter really quickly. Once they're nicely toasty you can put them in a clean tea towel and rub them together to remove the skins.
One the hazelnuts are ready you can put them in the food processor with the icing sugar until they are finely ground. Make sure you seal the spout of the food processor otherwise you will get a dust cloud that will cover your kitchen and make you look like a ghost. Don't ask how I know, LOL.
Add the softened butter and lemon zest and process everything together until the mixture is nice and creamy. Take the mixture out of the food processor and gently stir in the flour until it is just combined. Don't beat it or over mix it otherwise your kisses will be like lead and not light and lovely.
I use a teaspoon to scoop up a small amount of mixture and roll it into a ball as they turn out a nice size. Not to big and not too small. Put the balls of mixture onto an oven tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Allow a decent amount of room for them to spread.
Bake the kisses in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until they turn lightly golden. Leave them to cool on the trays for at least 20 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
To make the filling:
Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Spread a small amount of chocolate on one side of a cooled biscuit, then sandwich together with another biscuit. Repeat until all the biscuits have been partnered up.
Serve with a cuppa and a good chat.
Did you know that these are called "baci di dama" in Italian? It means "kisses of a dame", who knows why! I love them, so I should definitely save this post in my recipe book!
ReplyDeleteWow! I had no idea! :) I've been making them for years and never knew that. Thanks so much for letting me know, really glad you like them too x
DeleteThese really do look delicious! Do you know where you can get a large pack of hazlenuts for a reasonable price? Nuts are so expensive!
ReplyDeleteThanks Victoria :) x Nuts can be expensive, Asian supermarkets or wholefoods stores sell them for a cheaper price than supermarkets usually do.
DeleteOooh makes me think of nutella, love anything with nuts in the recipe (maybe I'm a bit nuts hmm)
ReplyDeleteThe kisses look delicious!