Baci di Dama

In a food processor, grind the almonds or hazelnuts until very fine.

In a large bowl, mix together the ground almonds, flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add the butter and with your hands, rub the butter into the flour until it comes together into a dough. Then work in the almond extract. At first it might seem too crumbly, but as you work in the butter, the oil from the almonds will help form the dough.

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ¾-inch thick log. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Don’t skip this step; chilling the dough makes it firm enough to roll, and allows the gluten in the dough to relax in order to make a soft and flaky cookie.

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Unwrap one of the logs and cut it into centimeter-thick disks. Roll the disks into spheres, and place them onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet leaving a bit of space between each. Repeat with the other 3 logs.

Bake the cookies for 10 -12 minutes, or until they are just barely golden around the edges. Remove from oven. Let them cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave on medium power (heat for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between). Turn half of the cookies upside down, and spoon a small drop of chocolate on them. Top with the remaining cookies.

Adapted from David Lebovitz.