Baci di Cioccolato

I love Italian confections, perhaps it's because I grew up eating them. I found a shop bought version of these at a local Italian specialty shop and it didn't take long for us to devour two tiny $6+ bags of cookies... yikes! Even the shop bought ones are delish, but I knew homemade would definitely trump anything that had been sitting on a shelf for god knows how long.

Baci di Cioccolato are chocolate kisses and the recipe I have used comes from Gina De Palma's amazing book, Dolce Italiano. Little buttery, chocolaty, almondy cookies with an amazing ganache filling spiked with the liquor of your choice. I don't keep much hard alcohol in my house but lately I've been on an Amaretto kick and it just seemed perfect for these. The cookies melt in your melt - it's like a trip into chocolate wonderland. Amazing!

 I'll definitely be making a huge batch for Christmas. They are a cinch to make. I'd like to try different types of nuts and fillings. I was thinking chocolate cookies with chestnut flour used instead of the almond flour and then chestnut cream in the center... my mouth is watering at the thought... or hazelnuts and  nutella... Mmmm.

Baci di Cioccolato
from Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano

For the cookies:
1/2 cup blanched almonds (or 1/4 cup ground almonds)
1 tablespoon sugar, plus more for rolling
1 1/2 cups + 1 Tb AP flour
1/3 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 ts baking powder
1/2 ts kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks/8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
2 ts vanilla extract
1 Tb dark rum

For the Ganache Filling
8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 Tb unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 ts dark rum, grappa, cognac or your favorite liquor

Preheat the oven to 325F. Roast the almonds on a baking tray for 15 minutes. Allow the almonds to cool completely then whiz in the food processor with 1 tablespoon of sugar until very fine. If you're a bit lazy like me you can use ground almonds instead. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and set aside. Beat the butter and icing sugar with an electric mixer until light and creamy, about 2 minutes, then beat in the vanilla and rum. Scrape down the bowl. Beat in the dry ingredients followed by the ground almonds. Remove the dough from the bowl, flatten into a disk, wrap in cling and refrigerate for an hour or so, until it is firm enough to handle. Preheat the oven to 325F and line two baking trays with parchment. This is the tricky bit, I use a small spring loaded icecream scoop to divide the dough, the recipe suggests rolling 3 equal portions of the dough into logs about 3/4 of an inch in diameter, cutting 1/2 inch pieces from the log and rolling those pieces into balls. You basically want balls of dough about the size of a small walnut in its shell. After you rolled the dough into balls, roll the balls into granulated sugar and place them 1/2 inch apart on the baking trays. Bake the cookies for 12-16 minutes, rotating the pan half way through to ensure even cooking. The cookies should be puffed and crackly. Allow the cookies to cool for a couple of minutes on the baking trays and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the ganache, place the chocolate and butter in a bowl. Heat the cream until it comes to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and allow the chocolate to melt completely, this should only take a minute or two. Whisk the mixture until smooth then stir in the liquor of your choice. Allow the ganache to cool until it is firm enough to spread, think peanut butter consistency.
Spread the ganache on the flat side of one cookie and sandwich with another. The cookies can be stored at room temp for up to three days.