This recipe for Alfajores filled with dulce de leche is a classic in Latin American celebrations.
The Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange is a yearly celebration of love, I mean cookies, but that is kind of the same thing and the holiday season is all about sharing and spreading love, some of my dearest blogger friends and I have come together to share our favorite recipes during this week!
The origin of the Argentine alfajor is related to its Arabic namesake, which is still produced in Spain. In fact, the word has its roots in the Spanish-Arabic word “al-hasú”, which means “the filling”.
This year we are making our virtual exchange different and we have chose to benefit Cookies for Kids’ Cancer for this year’s Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups cornstarch corn starch
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon grated lime 1/2 lemon
- 2 tablespoons of brandy or cognac
- Powdered sugar
- Coconut finely crushed ground nuts or cocoa powder (optional)
Instructions
- Sift the cornstarch, flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl.
- Beat the butter and sugar in a medium bowl at medium speed until a creamy consistency is obtained. Add the yolks and mix well. Add the lemon zest and the brandy.
- With a wooden spoon add the cornstarch mixture to the butter mixture in order to obtain a soft dough. In case it is too soft (it should not be liquid), add a little more flour and form a ball with the dough. Cover it with plastic wrap; Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease large baking trays.
- Stretch the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8 inch thick. Cut it into at least 34 2-inch circles. You will have to stretch it again.
- Place the circles on the baking trays that you prepared.
- Bake the circles for 10 minutes or until they are ready. They should not brown. Remove them from the oven and put them on metal racks to let them cool completely.
- Spread approximately 2 teaspoons of dulce de leche on the flat side of half of the cookies.
- Complete the sandwiches with the remaining cookies. If you wish, let the dulce de leche fill the sides or spread a little more all around so you can finish the sandwiches with grated coconut, nuts or cocoa powder.
- Sprinkle the sandwiches above and below with the powdered sugar already sifted. These cookies can be kept in good condition in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for a maximum of 3 months.
Video
Nutrition
The Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange is a yearly celebration of sugar, butter, and cookies. Cookies = love and the holiday season is all about sharing and spreading love, so my blog friends and I have come together to share favorite recipes, whether they’re new or well-loved classics, during the week!
The idea is based on an old-fashioned cookie exchange, except it’s virtual. Each blogger is bringing one or more cookies to the party, and we’re offering all kinds of sweets for the holiday season! We’ll be posting on Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #sweetestseasoncookies, so please follow along, and we hope to offer all kinds of holiday baking inspiration for the year’s sweetest season!
Here are some of the cookie recipes we have shared with the #SweetestSeasonCookies :
Gluten-free vanilla sugar cookies #sweetestseasoncookies, Spanish lemon polvorones #glutenfree #sugarfree #SweetestSeasonCookies, Chocolate almond coconut keto cookies, and Alfajores
3 thoughts on “Alfajores filled with dulce de leche”
Ooooh, I do like alfajores and basically everything where dulce de leche is involved. With nuts or coconut, these cookies are scrumptious!
I agree with you Ben, anything is better with dulce de leche!! thanks for stopping by!
I have never had alfajores but I am so very excited to try these on my own! Thank you for the recipe, please do keep sharing more! All the love from Nepal xoxo