Alfajores are delicious little bites of crumbly buttery cookies that sandwich a creamy and rich dulce de leche! Traditionally found in lots of countries in Latin America, this recipe will transport you there from the comfort of your own home!
I enjoyed Alfajores so much when I lived in Peru that I decided to create my own recipe for them! The cookie is the most tender and crumbly cookie I’ve ever made and the dulce de leche…..is utter perfection. So let’s get into it!!
Looking for more sandwich cookies? Try my:
This Alfajores recipe is pretty straightforward so I’ll keep this section short–below you’ll find a few extra tips that I think will be helpful for you to make the best Alfajores!
If you’d rather watch a video for instructions watch here!
- Don’t overmix the dough! We want a soft and short cookie so mix the ingredients just until they’re mixed.
- Split the dough into two equal portions, wrap with plastic wrap and flatten them a bit so that they chill in the refrigerator better.
- If you don’t want to make your own dulce de leche you can likely find a can or jar at your local hispanic food market. However if you want to make your own…
To make the Dulce de Leche
I followed John Kanell’s youtube video on How to Make Dulce de Leche from a can of sweetened condensed milk and it worked well! It involves simmering the can of sweetened condensed milk for roughly four hours so that it caramelizes and creates that gorgeous milky caramel. Just be sure to:
- Buy a completely sealed can, not the pop top kind with the hook for your finger.
- Remove the paper label from the can before submerging in water.
- Keep the water levels at least 1-2 inches over the top of the can.
- Make sure your water is actually simmering–I made the mistake of turning the water too low the first time and it didn’t caramelize properly. Save yourself the frustration and learn from my mistake!
- Try not to eat it all because it’s going to be difficult! I may be speaking from personal experience here…
If you make these Alfajores, be sure to write me a comment here and let me know how they turned out!
Happy Baking!
Can baking be therapeutic?
I often talk about baking being a therapeutic hobby but I’d like to share more about why I feel that way as well as how it can become a relaxing hobby for you!
When I bake, it’s my creative time. I may put on my favorite nostalgic movie or tv show in the background, or a Spotify playlist titled “French café” and leave my troubles behind.
Sometimes I pour myself a glass of wine and light a candle. Then, with the mood set, the mixing of batter, kneading of dough and smoothing of icing is my only care in the world.
When I say baking is therapeutic, sometimes people respond saying “not for me it isn’t!” I completely understand why someone might feel that way. There have been plenty of times where I spend hours on something only for it to fail or something breaks that shouldn’t or I forget to clean as I go and am left with a disastrous kitchen to clean.
So I should in reality, have a caveat to my “baking as therapy” claims…
Baking is therapy when you curate the experience to be relaxing.
How do you curate that relaxing experience for yourself, you ask?
How to make baking therapeutic…
- Prepare your mind–know that it’s okay if the cake doesn’t rise, or the butter wasn’t chilled enough. Shift your mindset from seeing your failures as mistakes to seeing them as opportunities for learning.
- Prepare your space–I cannot and will not bake on top of a messy kitchen. If I were to do this I would be starting from a place of stress! Take an extra 10 minutes to clean any dishes in the sink and wipe down the counters, this small effort will pay you back greatly in brain space and clarity.
- Clean as you go! I’ll tell you the one way to make baking stressful and tiresome, is to not clean as you go! After I use each ingredient that I no longer need, I put it away.
After each major step in the process, I wipe down the counters and put dishes that are no longer needed in the sink. If there is chill time or baking time I don’t sit, I do the cleaning then. Make this shift and you’ll really notice the difference!
By the way, this last tip really helped me when I was on The Great American Baking Show–and the crew that cleaned up behind us made a point to tell me that my workspace was always so clean they didn’t have much to do!
I would reply by saying “it’s how I stay sane in this tent!”
Additional suggestions:
*Maybe try printing off the recipe instead of looking at it on your phone, tablet or laptop and use this time to unplug from technology for a few hours
**Invite friends or family over to share your creation with you. Time spent with loved ones over food is a universally special experience
And that’s how I discovered baking for my mental health. If you try any of these suggestions, let me know how it went for you! I’m really invested in spreading this message to others in hopes that baking will enhance your lives more than it already does!
Alfajores
Ingredients
For the Alfajor Cookies
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large egg yolks room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the Dulce de Leche
- 1 can dulce de leche OR 1 can sweetened condensed milk (see notes)
Instructions
For the Alfajor Cookies
- If you are making your dulce de leche from scratch, it would be wise to prepare it the day before you make the cookies.
- In a medium bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) of room temperature unsalted butter with 1/2 cup of granulated sugar for about 1-2 minutes.
- Add 3 large room temperature egg yolks and 2 tsp of vanilla extract and mix again until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup of corn starch, 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour, 1 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt and whisk until incorporated.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet batter and mix until combined making sure not to overmix.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Towards the end of the hour preheat the oven to 350°F (roughly 180°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it and roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick.
- Place the cookies on your lined baking sheet and bake for a total of 10 minutes, rotating the pan at the 5 minute mark.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
For the Assembly
- Pipe dulce de leche onto cooled alfajor cookies, sandwich with another alfajor cookie on top, dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!
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