Alfajores Cookies

Prep time: 45 mins Cook time: 10-12 mins Total time: 55-57 mins

Ingredients

Cookies

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

¾ cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 egg, room temperature

1 cup flour

2 cups corn starch

½ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup dulce de leche (store bought)

Chocolate Sauce

1/2 cup semisweet cocoa

1/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup water, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Equipment

Measuring cups and spoons

Standing or handheld electric whisk

Round cookie cutter (2 inch)

Rolling pin

8 by 16 inch / 20 by 40 cm baking sheet, lined with parchment paper

Small bowl

Large bowl (if using a handheld whisk)

Plastic wrap

How to

Cookies

In the bowl of a standing mixer (or in a large bowl if using a handheld whisk), cream the butter sugar until soft and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and keep beating. Now add the dry ingredients and beat until well combined. It will be soft dough.

Lay out the plastic wrap on the kitchen counter, and place the dough in a disc shape on the plastic wrap. Wrap well and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes – 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit/170 Celsius.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough using a floured rolling pin until its about ¼ inch / ½ cm thick. To be on the safe side, you may want to lightly flour the dough before rolling it out.

Cut out round shapes using the cookie cutter, and place them on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Take the scraps, roll them out and cut out more cookies.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, and then remove and let them cool on a wire rack.

As the cookies are cooling, make the chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce

Mix the cocoa and sugar together on the sauce pan. Add the salt and water and mix over medium heat until everything dissolves. Keep it on the stove top until it boils, while stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. You can use it once slightly cool, or keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. Keep in mind that even if the sauce is thin when you remove it from the stove top, it will thicken as it cools down.

Assembly

Once the cookies are completely cooled, put about a tablespoon of dulce de leche on the flat side of the cookie. You can use a spoon or a piping bag. Place another cookie on top of it and press down very lightly.

I then squeezed chocolate sauce all over the cookies moving quickly back and forth over the cookies. You can store any leftover sauce in the fridge for about a month.