alfajor

Flecked with vanilla seeds throughout the dough, alfajores are the perfect excuse to whip up a batch of vanilla bean cajeta—a goat's-milk variation on dulce de leche. The combination of sticky toffee sauce and buttery shortbread can't be beat, but it can be improved upon. My recipe replaces traditional cornstarch with tapioca starch, keeping the alfajores tender and light.

Alfajores Con Cajeta (Vanilla Shortbread With Goat's-Milk Toffee) Recipe

vanilla bean, preferably Mexican

all-purpose flour (3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon; 115 grams)

tapioca starch (3/4 cup; 85 grams)

sugar

(1 grams) Diamond Crystal kosher salt

(1 grams) baking powder

unsalted butter

recipe Cajeta Casera (see note)

Split vanilla bean lengthwise with a paring knife and scrape out seeds with the flat of the blade; reserve empty pod for cajeta or another use. Combine vanilla seeds with flour, tapioca starch, powdered sugar, salt, baking powder, and butter in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to form a fine and sandy meal, then add egg yolks and continue processing until the dough balls up around the blade. Divide in half and proceed to step 2, or wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate up to 1 week.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F (180°C). Turn a portion of dough onto a powdered sugar–dusted surface and dust more powdered sugar on top. Roll dough until roughly 6 inches across, then dust with powdered sugar, flip upside down, and dust again. Continue rolling until dough is just shy of 1/4 inch thick. Slide a thin offset spatula under dough to loosen any places that might have stuck and cut dough into 2-inch rounds. Arrange cutouts on a parchment-lined aluminum half-sheet pan, leaving about 1/2 inch between cookies. Gather the scraps, briefly knead, and re-roll and cut as before. Repeat with remaining dough, for a total of 50 pieces. Bake until just beginning to brown around the edges, about 15 minutes, and cool to room temperature directly on sheet pan.

Transfer cajeta to a pastry bag fitted with a plain 1/4-inch tip. Flip half the cookies bottom side up and pipe a generous dollop of cajeta into the very center, up to 1/2 ounce (4 teaspoons; 14g), or less if you prefer. Alternatively, this can be done with a spoon. Top with remaining wafers and press gently to secure. Dust with powdered sugar and serve. In an airtight container, alfajores will keep 24 hours at room temperature or up to 1 week in the fridge.

These are Peruvian alfajores. Manjar blanco that is spiked with cinnamon is sandwiched in between two light shortbread cookies. The sides are rolled in powdered sugar. 

Alfajores Recipe

store bought dulce de leche

cinnamon

kosher salt

sweetened condensed milk

cinnamon ((optional))

all-purpose flour

corn starch (sifted)

salt

unsalted butter (at room temperature)

vanilla extract

egg yolk ((optional))

To a medium bowl, add the store-bought dulce de leche, along with the cinnamon and salt. Mix until smooth and completely combined. Set aside. 

To Make the Manjar Blanco Short Cut:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grab a small baking dish, a piece of foil and another larger baking dish that the smaller baking dish fits in.

Pour the sweetened condensed milk into the smaller baking dish and cover it with foil. Place the smaller baking dish in the larger baking dish and fill half way with water. We&#039;re going to be creating a water bath for the sweetened condensed milk to cook in. Transfer to the oven to bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. You may need to re-fill it at the 45 minute mark since the water can evaporate.

Remove it from the oven and allow it to stand for about 15 minutes. This will cool it down so it&#039;s easier to handle.

Remove the foil from the baking dish and remove it from the water bath. Discard the cinnamon stick and pour the dulce de leche/manjar blanco into a glass or stainless steel bowl. Whisk it until it&#039;s smooth. This happens pretty quickly.

You can do this the day before if you like. This stays good in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks. To temper the dulce de leche, transfer the container (with it&#039;s lid on and all) to a bowl with warm water. This will allow the dulce de leche to become smooth since the cold temperature from the fridge stiffens it quite a bit.

To Make the Manjar Blanco Short Cut #2:

To the medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, sifted corn starch, powdered sugar and salt. Set aside.&nbsp;

To the bowl of a stand-up mixer (you can also use a medium bowl and an electric hand-mixer), add the butter and vanilla paste or extract. Beat until smooth. Next, add the egg yolk and mix just until incorporated.&nbsp;

Add all of the flour mixture and slowly mix it together (being sure not to go too quickly or else the flour will fly out of the bowl), until combined, about 1 minute.&nbsp;

Scoop the dough out of the bowl and form it into a ball. Place it in the center of a sheet of plastic wrap and press it into about a 2-inch round. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to chill for about 1 hour.&nbsp;

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.&nbsp;

When it’s done resting, in the fridge, transfer the dough to the center of a sheet of parchment. Place a sheet of parchment on top and roll it out slowly. (If it’s too cold, let it come closer to room temperature, about 10 minutes.) Roll it out until it’s about 1/2 to 1/4-inch thick.

Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, stamp out cookies, having them as close to each other as possible. Transfer the cookies (I found it easiest to use an offset spatula to pick up the cookies) to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 2-inches apart. Transfer to the fridge to chill for about 10 minutes. Repeat until you work your way through all of the dough. I rerolled the dough about 2 more times.&nbsp;

Score the tops of the cookies with a tines of a fork. Transfer to the oven to bake for about 11 to 13 minutes, until the cookies are a bit firm to the touch but have zero color on the edges. These cookies are baked just until set. Allow to cool on the baking sheets until room temperature. 

To Make the Cookies:

When the cookies have cooled, flip half of the cookies on their opposite side. Transfer the manjar blanco to a piping bag with a piping tip attached (this part is optional). Pipe a round of manjar blanco on all of the cookies facing their opposite sides.&nbsp;

Alternatively, you could also spoon the manjar blanco onto each of the cookies and smooth it out (gently because the cookies are delicate) using a butter knife.&nbsp;

Top each of the cookies with another cookies and lightly press it down. Roll the sides in the sifted powdered sugar.&nbsp;Store in an air-tight container or bag for up to 3 to 5 days.&nbsp;

To Assemble the Alfajores:

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/zd7mgf6e.mp4

Alfajores

Recipe for making homemade alfajores or dulce de leche sandwich cookies. These Latin American cookies are made with all purpose flour, cornstarch, butter, baking powder, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, milk, and vanilla. They are filled with caramel and decorated with coconut or icing sugar.

Alfajores: Dulce de leche sandwich cookies

all-purpose flour flour

cornstarch (1¼ cups cornstarch = 160 grams)

butter (room temperature, ½ cup of butter = 113 grams)

baking powder

lemon or lime zest

milk

vanilla optional

powdered

dulce de leche

dry coconut

Powdered or icing sugar (to taste)

Sift the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Stir all the ingredients very well and add the lemon zest.

Use an electric hand mixer to mix the butter with the powdered sugar (previously sifted) until you get a creamy mixture.

Add the milk and egg yolks, continue mixing until all the ingredients are well combined.

Add the flour mixture in batches and mix well in between adding each batch of flour. The final dough should be smooth and not sticky. If it's still sticky you can add an additional handful of flour.

Divide the dough into two equal parts and make two balls of dough. Then gently squash each ball into a thick disk shape. Cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F (200 ° C).

Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to flatten and extend the dough until you have a thin layer. The maximum thickness of the layer should be about five millimeters (less than ¼ inch).

Use a round cookie cutter mold to cut as many circles as you can. I used a 2 in (5 cm) round mold. You can make them smaller or larger, just adjust the baking time accordingly.

Put the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leave at least two centimeters or ¾ inch of space between each cookie to keep them from sticking together.

Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes or until they are lightly golden. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool down completely.

Take a cooled down cookie and place a teaspoon of dulce de leche on its inner surface (the part that was stuck to the baking sheet), spread it well to the edges of the cookie and then gently stick another cookie (baking side on the caramel) on top to form a cookie sandwich.

Place the grated dry coconut on a flat plate and roll each stuffed cookie in the coconut mix until it sticks to the dulce de leche filling, giving it the characteristic look of the alfajor cookie. You can also dust the cookies with powdered sugar.

You can keep the alfajores or dulce de leche cookies refrigerated for a week.

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