Baci di Dama, or ladies kisses, are nutty, buttery, chocolate-filled cookies traditionally from Northen Italy. The name is due to the fact that the two sides of the cookie seem to kiss, isn’t that romantic? Here we have elaborated a savoury version of the kisses, filled with a delicious cheese cream and ideal to be served as amuse-bouche.
Ingredients (serves about 4)
For the savoury cookie dough
– 100gr plain flour
– 100gr almond meal
– 80gr grated Pecorino cheese
– 80gr unsalted butter, chopped
– 2 tbsp white wine
– salt to taste
For the filling
– 100gr cream cheese
– 2 tsp (about 10 gr) dried mushrooms
– salt and pepper to taste
Steps
Cookie
1. Mix the almond meal, the plain flour, the butter, the salt and the wine in a bowl. Keep going until the mixture is nice and homogeneous.
2. Work with your hands to divide the mixture into small balls of about 2cm in diameter.
3. Place the balls onto an oven dish, on a layer of baking paper. When placing the balls, try squashing one side of each ball to make it flat and obtain semi-sphere shapes.
4. Bake for 15 minutes at 180ºC.
5. Let the cookies cool down until they reach room temperature (do NOT place them in the fridge).
As you will be pairing the cookies, better make an even number of them 😉
Filling
Filling is the fun bit: here we did a mixture of cream cheese and mushrooms blended together, but you can experiment as much as you like!
1. Pour cream cheese and mushrooms in the food processor and process for about 30 seconds.
Assembling your savoury cookies
1. Grab a cookie, place a little bit of filling on the flat side.
2. Grab a second cookie, squash the two flat sides together and watch the filling spread.
Keep your savoury kisses in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Tips&tricks
More ideas for your filling could be Gorgonzola and walnuts, Gorgonzola and pears, cream cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, cream cheese and olives or even cream cheese and ham… what’s your idea?
Other Recipes you May Like
If you’re after some ideas for appetisers try the delicious Pistachio Coated Cheese balls