Alfajores (South American sandwich cookies)
Popular throughout Argentina, Peru, and Venezuela, these delicate cookies are sandwiched around a thick layer of dulce de leche.
Equipment
- 1 ½” round cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 2 cups cornstarch yes, cups! It’s a lot of cornstarch!
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 can dulce de leche for filling
- Flaked coconut for garnish
- Powdered sugar for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugar using an electric mixer. Mix in the vanilla bean paste, water, and lemon zest before beating in egg yolks one at a time.
- Slowly stir the dry ingredients into your wet ingredients until completely combined. Do not overmix.
- Form the dough into a ball and place it in the refrigerator to cool for at least 30 minutes.
- After your dough has cooled, divide it in half. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is approximately ¼” thick. Use a 1 ½” round cookie cutter to stamp out cookies and transfer them to a prepared baking sheet. Gather the scraps of dough and re-roll them, repeating the process until you have used all of the dough.
- Place the trays of unbaked cookies in the refrigerator or freezer and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Once the oven has preheated, transfer your cooled pans of cookies to the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes. The bottom of the cookie should be slightly golden, but the top of the cookie will still be pale.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies have cooled, flip half of your cookies upside down and coat with a thick layer of dulce de leche. Top with the right-side-up cookies to create sandwiches. You may also roll the edges of the cookies in flaked coconut for a bonus pop of texture and flavor. Dust finished cookies with powdered sugar before serving.