Toast the chopped almonds in a dry 10-inch skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until fragrant. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt.

In a small saucepan, warm the honey, sugar, and milk over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, just until the sugar dissolves. Do not let it boil.

Pour the warm honey mixture into the dry ingredients. Add the orange zest, candied orange peel, and toasted almonds.

Mix with a wooden spoon, then knead by hand in the bowl for 2 to 3 minutes until you have a firm, slightly sticky dough that holds together.

Wrap the dough in plastic and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. This relaxes the gluten so it rolls without snapping back.

Heat the oven to 180 C / 350 F and line a 33 x 46 cm / 13 x 18-inch sheet pan with parchment.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1.5 cm thickness. Cut into diamonds about 5 cm across using a sharp knife or pastry cutter, re-rolling scraps once.

Arrange the diamonds on the sheet pan with 2 cm between them and bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until the tops look matte and dry and the edges feel firm to the touch.

Cool the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.

Melt the dark chocolate with the oil in a heatproof bowl set over a small pan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth.

Dip the top half of each cooled cookie into the glaze, letting the excess drip off, then set them glaze-side up on parchment. Let the glaze set at room temperature for about 30 minutes before stacking.