SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Baci di Dama (“Lady’s Kisses) are melt-in-your-mouth Italian hazelnut cookies joined together with some good chocolate. This recipe comes from In the Cookie Jar, the cookie booklet created for the 2020 Holiday Bake Box held by the Women’s Guild of St. John Armenian Church in Southfield.
“We made a total of 5,700 cookies and Armenian sweets for our sold-out fundraiser,” says Denise Boyagian, Women’s Guild Chairman. Normally we would get together and bake in the church kitchen, but we couldn’t because of the pandemic. Instead, our members baked in their homes and, in small groups working in shifts, assembled the boxes in our cultural hall. This was done while observing safe distance practices distributed by our parish’s Medical Advisory Committee. It was a bake sale like no other.”
Baci di Dama are delicious served with hot coffee or tea — and they make the perfect gift for special occasions and holiday cookie platters. The In the Cookie Jar booklet contains recipes for Armenian favorites like simit, nazook, and khurabia, plus Christmas cookies and new favorites like Lemon Nut Wafers, Fruitcake Cookies (even fruitcake-haters love these), Earl Grey slice-and-bake, Polish Butter Cookies with Jam, and more.
Ingredients:
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (2 1/2 oz.)
