What are Alfajores?
The first time I ever had an alfajor cookie was when I was given a small box of them by a Venezuelan food stylist friend. THAT’s how you make friends! Alfajores are a delicious sandwich cookie treat from Latin America, particularly Argentina, Venezuela, and Peru. Each area has their own variations of the cookie, but all of them are delicate, melt-in-your-mouth treats consisting of two soft, buttery biscuits sandwiched together with a generous layer of dulce de leche, a rich caramelized milk spread. The name “alfajor” comes from the Arabic word al-hasú (meaning “filled” or “stuffed”). Makes sense.
The Cookies
The cookie is made from a butter cookie dough, with a high ratio of cornstarch – more cornstarch than flour. That gives the cookie a very light and crumbly texture that melts away in your mouth. As with any sandwich cookie, the most important thing is that the cookies be a consistent shape and size. There are two ways to achieve this. The first is to roll the dough to ⅛-inch thick and cut it into rounds with a 2-inch circle cutter, creating perfect circles each time. You will have to gather up the remaining dough and roll it out again. If you don’t have a circle cutter, you can still achieve the consistency you need by rolling the dough into a 2-inch in diameter log (trying hard to keep the log as round as possible) and then slice the log into ⅛-inch slices. The challenge here is to avoid having a flat side to each circle, but even if you do, at least all the cookies will be consistent.
Homemade or Store-bought Dulce de Leche
The filling for the alfajores is arguably the best part. You can use store-bought dulce de leche if you like, but making your own is very easy and allows you to customize the taste and texture. Making homemade dulce de leche just requires time and a can of sweetened condensed milk. You can learn all about it here. The dulce de leche in the photo above was simmered for 3½ hours on the stovetop and had a delicious flavor and consistency for sandwich cookies. If you make your own dulce de leche with a 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk, you’ll have enough dulce de leche for a double recipe of alfajores.
Sandwich Cookies
A tablespoon or so of dulce de leche is all you need for a cookie. Your filling should be the same thickness as one of the cookies. Press the cookies together to spread the filling out and you’re almost done.
Powdered Sugar Dusting
Finish the alfajores by dusting the tops with powdered sugar through a fine strainer. You only need to do one side. Some variations of alfajores roll the edges of the cookies in shredded coconut, but I prefer the unadulterated version. You could also drizzle chocolate on top if you like, but again… unadulterated is my preference.
How to Store Alfajores
Store these treats under lock and key. No, just kidding – you should share them. It’s unlikely, but if you do need to store them, do so in an airtight container at room temperature for a week or so, but they’ll never last that long. If you want to make these ahead of time, you can freeze the unbaked cookie dough (after slicing makes it super convenient when you go to bake), or you can freeze the fully made cookies, but freezing the dough and baking to order will produce a better outcome.
