Alfajores

(South American dulce de leche sandwich cookies)
Image by Rebecca T. Caro
Makes 20 cookies
Ingredients
- Cornstarch -- 1 cup
- Flour -- 1 cup
- Baking powder -- 1 teaspoon
- Unsalted butter -- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks)
- Sugar -- 3/4 cup
- Egg yolks -- 2
- Dulce de leche -- 1 cup
Method
- Sift the cornstarch, flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl. In a mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, beating until they are incorporated.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 batches, allowing each batch to become incorporated before adding the next.
- Form the dough into a disc without handling it too much. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll out to about 1/8-inch thick. Cut out 40 2-inch rounds, and carefully place the rounds on two lightly greased cookie sheets.
- Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, but not so long that they begin to brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.
- Spread about 2 teaspoons of dulce de leche on the flat half of a cookie and cover it with the flat half of another cookie to form a sandwich. Repeat with the remaining cookies. If desired, sprinkle the finished cookies with powdered sugar.
Alfajores Variations
- For extra flavor, try adding one or more of these to the dough when you add the eggs: 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract; 1 tablespoon of brandy or cognac; 1 tablespoon of lime or lemon zest.
- Use more dulce de leche on each cookie so that some squeezes out the sides. Then roll the edges in grated coconut or ground nuts.
- Fill the cookies with your favorite jam instead of dulce de leche.