Alfajores (Argentine Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 37 min
- Level
- Easy
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 7
About this dish
Cornstarch makes up a large share of the flour in these cookies, which is why they crumble so tenderly before the thick layer of dulce de leche in the middle takes over.
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Dulce de leche, milk cooked down slowly into caramel, has a strong toffee flavor, so the cookies themselves are kept plain. The sweet traces back to medieval Andalusia, but this round sandwich form took shape in 19th-century Argentina and Uruguay. Pulled from the oven before they color, the rounds stay pale and soft.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Soften 100g butter until it yields easily when pressed.
Beat it with 60g sugar for 2 to 3 minutes, stopping when the mixture looks paler, creamy, and no longer gritty against the bowl.
- 2
Add 2 egg yolks and 1 tsp vanilla extract, then mix on medium speed just until smooth.
Scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice so the butter base stays even and does not separate.
- 3
Sift in 150g all-purpose flour and 100g cornstarch.
Fold with a spatula using cutting motions, and stop as soon as the dry patches disappear so the dough stays tender instead of tough.
- 4
Place the soft dough between plastic wrap or baking paper and roll it to 0.7cm thick.
Cut 5cm rounds, then lift them carefully onto the lined tray so the fragile edges stay round.
- 5
Bake at 170C for 10 to 12 minutes, removing the cookies before they brown.
They are ready when the edges look set and the tops remain pale, since extra color makes them drier.
- 6
Let the cookies cool completely on the tray until firm enough to handle.
Pipe or spoon 180g dulce de leche onto half of them, sandwich gently, and press just enough to spread the filling to the edge.
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