Baci di Alassio are decadent chocolate hazelnut cookies sandwiched with velvety dark chocolate ganache. They're a local specialty of the Ligurian town of Alassio, Italy. The ground hazelnuts and cocoa powder in these flourless "kisses" provide a rustic texture that's chewy and soft, similar to that of French macarons.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Cook Time 10 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour45 minutesminutes
Servings 36sandwich cookies (72 individual cookies)
25grams (¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon)cocoa powder (I used Dutch process)
21grams (1 Tablespoon)honey
2large egg whites (approximately 66 grams)room temperature
¼teaspoonkosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal)
Chocolate Ganache
113grams (⅓ cup + 2 Tablespoons)heavy cream
113grams (⅔ cup)dark chocolate, finely chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177° Celsius, Gas mark 4) with rack in center of oven.
If your hazelnuts are not yet toasted, spread the nuts onto a rimmed sheet pan. Roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Nuts will have a toasted smell and begin to turn golden brown. Keep an eye on this process - you don't want to burn expensive ingredients!! Pour toasted nuts onto a cold cookie sheet to speed the cooling process. Set aside to fully cool. Keep oven on.
To the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, add the cooled hazelnuts (warm nuts will give you hazelnut butter) and granulated sugar. Process until the mixture is very finely ground. You want the nuts to be as fine as possible to help make the batter thick.
Pour nut mixture into a large bowl. Add cocoa powder and stir well with a spoon or spatula to incorporate fully. Nut mixture should be evenly dark brown. Use your fingers to break up any nut-sugar clumps. Thinly drizzle honey over the entire mixture to help spread it out evenly. Stir very well, pressing the mixture into the bottom and sides of the bowl to make sure there are no pockets of honey left. Set aside.
25 grams (¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon) cocoa powder (I used Dutch process), 21 grams (1 Tablespoon) honey
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites. Beat on medium speed until foamy. Turn off the mixer and add the salt. Continue beating on medium until soft peaks form. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until stiff.
2 large egg whites (approximately 66 grams), ¼ teaspoon kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal)
Add egg whites to bowl with nut mixture. Using a spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the nut mixture until no egg white streaks remain. Do this by scooping one side of the mixture from below and turning it upside-down onto the other side of the mixture. Rotate the bowl ¼ turn. Repeat just as needed.
Scoop the batter into a piping bag* fitted with a large open star tip (my preference is an Ateco 868 French star tip. A smaller Wilton 4B tip is still possible, but more challenging as the opening is smaller for the stiff batter.* I use a double bag for this recipe as backup in case the first bag splits; the batter is very thick and you have to squeeze pretty firmly.
Line a rimmed half sheet baking pan with parchment paper. Pipe 1 inch (2.5 centimeter) stars onto the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Keep the bag upright so that the tip of the star is centered in the middle of the cookie, and hold it above the pan as you squeeze the bag so that the batter has a bit of height as it comes out. If your piped cookies don't want to release from the piping bag, swirl the tip around a little to loosen them. Lightly dampen a finger to gently reshape any star points that are too tall or misshapen.
Bake one tray of baci cookies at a time for 9-10 minutes. When done, cookies should be slightly dull, firm to a gentle touch on the outside, and still soft inside. You should be able to lift a cookie off the parchment paper without it sticking. The bottom should be caramelized and a bit shiny. Cool cookies on the pan.
Chocolate Ganache
In a microwave safe container (or the top of a double boiler), heat the cream in 15 second increments until it steams and small bubbles form along the edge of the container. Do not boil. Remove from heat and add finely chopped chocolate. Ensure all chocolate is covered by the cream.
113 grams (⅓ cup + 2 Tablespoons) heavy cream, 113 grams (⅔ cup) dark chocolate, finely chopped
Let sit for 1 minute, and then gently and slowly whisk until all chocolate has melted and no lumps remain. Set aside to cool somewhat (don't wait 'til it's completely cool or it will be too firm to pipe.)
Once thick enough to pipe, place into a piping bag lined with an open circle tip. I use a Wilton 1A tip, but you can also simply cut the end off the bag. Pipe a small amount of ganache onto the base of a cookie, and sandwich together with a similar sized cookie. Continue until all cookies have been filled and paired.
Notes
Grind the hazelnut / sugar mixture as finely as possible. This will help create the thickest batter for the piped cookies. A thicker batter means the cookies will spread less and have a taller, more defined star shape after baking.Weigh your egg whites using a digital scale for best results. Egg whites vary in weight. Large egg whites average 33-34 grams each. You'll need 66-68 grams of egg whites for this recipe. The chocolate hazelnut batter will be very thick. I like to use a double layer of piping bags to make sure they don't burst while I'm squeezing. As you're piping, if the stars don't want to release from the piping bag, swirl the tip around and shake the bag a little to loosen each one. Cool the ganachejust until thick enough to pipe. Don't wait for it to cool completely or it will be too firm.