Italian Chocolate Kisses aka Baci!

Ahh, chocolate. As I sit here and appreciate this confection of chocolate, hazelnut, and nutella, I decide to have another one of these Italian Chocolate Kisses.

Italian Chocolate Kisses

I wanted to make a special treat for my family and friends for Valentine’s day, so I tried to replicate Italy’s infamous Baci Perugina chocolates, one of my favourite chocolates. These treats have been in production since 1922 and the factory produces thousands of Baci daily. Did you know that Baci are still made in Perugia (Italy), near the birthplace of St. Valentine? But I digress…

The whole process starts with melting butter with chocolate.

Once everything is melted, incorporate the chopped hazelnuts and nutella and cocoa powder. Spread on a cookie sheet which has been lined with parchment paper. Place the pan in the freezer.

The mixture has hardened a little, but it will soften up again really quickly. The next step is rolling…

One hazelnut gets placed on top of every mound.

As you can well imagine, these little gems get a dunking. I used dark chocolate for this step.

And now for the taste test…

According to some members of my family, they were better than the original!

ORIGINS OF THE RECIPE FOR Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Kisses:

A colleague of mine, Tony, shared his favourite recipe for these decadent confections, adapted from Misya. There are many variations floating around the internet, if you’d prefer to do some Googling yourself.

You don’t have to be a chocolatier to make these Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Kisses. Fun to make and a pleasure to eat! Treat yourself and your loved ones for Valentine’s Day.

Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Kisses

You don't have to be a chocolatier to make these Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Kisses (aka baci). Fun to make and a pleasure to eat-treat yourself and your loved ones.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: 14 servings

Calories: 116kcal

Author: Maria Vannelli RD

Ingredients

• 50 grams milk chocolate
• 10 grams butter
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder unsweetened
• 50 grams toasted and blanched hazelnuts chopped, toasted and blanched
• 50 grams chocolate hazelnut spread Nutella
• 14 whole hazelnuts blanched
• 100 grams dark chocolate

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Instructions

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Melt milk chocolate with butter in microwave or on top of double boiler.
• Remove from heat and add cocoa powder, chopped hazelnuts, and Nutella.
• Pour the whole mixture on the parchment lined baking sheet.
• Place in freezer for about 15 minutes or until firm.
• Roll into balls (about 1 inch).
• Top each ball with one whole hazelnut.
• Place on parchment paper and back in the freezer for about 5 minutes.
• Melt dark chocolate in double boiler. Remove from heat.
• Dip frozen chocolate balls in chocolate.
• Place on parchment lined baking sheet and wait for chocolate to dry.
• Enjoy.

Scroll UP for the STEP by STEP PhotosDon't miss the process shots and videos included in most posts. Simply scroll up the post to find them. Those were created especially for you so that you can make the recipe perfectly every single time you try it.

Notes

You might consider using gloves when rolling the chocolate mixture into balls...it does get a little messy.

Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided below is just a rough estimate and variations can occur depending on the specific ingredients used. 

*recipe adapted lightly from Misya

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 116kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 109mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1.3mg

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Thanks for dropping by.

Ciao for now!

Maria 🙂