Food Network: Checkered Cookies in the Style of Piemonte: Baci di Dama

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Checkered Cookies in the Style of Piemonte: Baci di Dama
Recipe courtesy Mario Batali

Ingredients
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup bittersweet dark chocolate, melted

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the almonds, sugar, flour and butter. Pulse lightly until
the almonds are ground and the mixture is homogenous. Place the mixture in a mixing bowl.

Using a tablespoon, place small scoops of the mixture on a lightly greased baking sheet, separating
each scoop by at least 1-inch on all sides. Use the tips of your fingers to gently flatten the tops
of each scoop. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.

Once the cookies have cooled, gently melt the chocolate in the bowl of a bain-marie (a stainless
steel bowl fitted over a saucepan of simmering water s that the bowl just touches the water). Remove
the melted chocolate from the heat. Carefully pour or spoon a bit of melted chocolate on the tops of
half the cookies. If the tops are not flat enough, simply spoon the melted chocolate on the sides of
the cookies that were face down during the cooking process. Use the remaining cookie halves to form
the other half of the cookie "sandwich," pressing gently so that the chocolate adheres to both sides
of the sandwich. Let rest until the chocolate has cooled, holding the cookies together.