Recipe for cooking alfajores

Recipes from Peru, Brazil and South America :: South American Desserts

Alfajores are a common treat through much of South America, and the citizens of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile all claim them as their own. It is an easy cookie to make, and you can enlist the help of the younger cooks in the house during the final assembly.

12 Tbsp. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp. cognac
2 1/2 (two and a half) c. cornstarch (corn flour)
1 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Dulce de Leche
Grated coconut

* Dulce de leche is becoming more widely available in US supermarkets, and can be found in any good Hispanic market.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the remaining ingredients except the dulce de leche and coconut and mix well. Turn onto a floured work surface and knead until the dough is smooth. Let the dough rest for 15 mins.

Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/4 in. and cut into 2-in. rounds. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 300 degree F oven for 20 mins. When cool, spread some dulce de leche on the bottom of half the cookies and make a sandwich with the remaining cookies. Squeeze the sandwiches so that some of the dulce de leche is squeezed out the sides, and roll the sides in the grated coconut. Makes about 12 cookie sandwiches.

Dulce de Leche
Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk into 9-in. pie plate. Cover with aluminum foil; place in larger shallow pan. Fill larger pan with hot water. Bake at 425 degrees fahrenheit for 1 hour or until thick and caramel-colored. Beat until smooth.