INGREDIENTS (40 cookies = 20 "baci di dama")
- 2 tablespoon ground flaxseeds + 6 tablespoon water (= egg replacer)
- 80 gr / 2.8 oz rice flour
- 80 gr / 2.8 oz starch
- 140 gr / 4.9 oz almond and/or hazelnut flour
- 60 gr / 2.1 oz brown sugar
- 100 gr / 3.5 oz vegan butter
- pinch of salt
- almond aroma
- melted chocolate / spreads
The ideas for my cooking experiments really come at various times and occasions and the inspiration to experiment with these traditional Italian cookies came one day as I was walking (well, running, more like it) to the bus after work and crossed path with a girl coming out of a bakery and munching on these “baci di dama” (= lady's kisses), as we call them here.
And my first thought was “Ah! I definitely need to try and make an allergen-free version of them for my sweetheart!”
Yeah. Nope. My first thought actually had been: God I want that bag of baci di dama too and I don’t even care if it’s almost dinner time *pouts and stomps foot*
… don’t judge me. Please. Don’t.
So ... well, I checked an old traditional recipe I had at home and tried to convert it into a gluten/dairy/egg-free version, making a really small amount of dough, pretty sure that in no way I would have had a positive result at my first attempt. But I did, baking miracles happen!
So I then made a bigger dough, and here it is how we bake them:
- get the flax-egg ready mixing ground flaxseeds and water and set aside
- now mix the dry ingredients: flours, sugar and a pinch of salt, then add the vegan butter (at room temperature), the flax-egg and the aroma and mix everything, first with a spoon, then with your hands, until you will get a dough firm enough to be made into a “ball”
- cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for an hour
- once the hour has passed, pre-heat your oven at 160° C / 320 F, take the dough and start making small balls out of it (a teaspoon of dough at a time) and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper
- then into the oven for 20/25 minutes, or until the base of the cookies will be slightly brown. Do not wait for them to get brown on top, they probably won’t and they highly risk to burn at the base. Trust me on this, I’ve been there.
- once out of the oven, let them cool down for at least 30 minutes, then pair them using either melted chocolate or a nut/chocolaty spread to stick them together, like I did here with a vegan pistacho spread I had bought.
These are such a comforting treat, when you are in need of something sweet but don’t want to overdo you know, also, they could be a nice gift for a special day, like Valentine’s day, or Mother's or Father's day, they will definitely be appreciated.
As always, I'd love to read what you think of the recipe here in the comments and don't forget to subscribe to my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for updates!
Ciao and ... lots of kisses, mwah!
Sonia
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