Alfajor Recipe (with video)

Hello friends! Continuing with the Christmas Cookie baking, we have the next cookie up! Alfajor Recipe! These cookies were part of a Christmas Cookie Box I made this year!

Make sure to watch the video on how to make this Alfajor Cookies located on this page, or on my Youtube Channel.

Have you ever had an Alfajor Cookie? Well, if you haven’t, today after reading this Alfajor Recipe you are going to want to!

What are Alfajores?

Alfajores are from Argentina, and they are buttery cornstarch cookie sandwiches, filled with dulce de leche! And even though they are originally from Argentina, they are SUPER popular in Brazil, where I am from. So I grew up eating (and loving) alfajores!

I used to have this recipe on my Alfajor Cupcakes post, but I decided to give its own space on my blog, and I have also updated the recipe a bit (more butter, removed the baking soda, reduced the baking powder), and the results are more fantastic than ever!

This Alfajor Recipe is the best cookie recipe I’ve made so far this season (and I’ve made over a dozen cookies already).

Anyway, the recipe is pretty simple, and you can find the process on my video, on Youtube, and here on this blog post.

Basically, you make the alfajor cookie dough, which consists of butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, almond extract, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.

Then you refrigerate the dough for a few hours, to let the structure set.

After a few hours, remove it from the fridge, roll it out, cut it with your favorite shape, and bake!

Once the cookies cool down, you can place the dulce de leche in a piping bag, and pipe some dulce de leche in the center of half of the cookies, then top them with the remaining half.

And then, you can also decorate the cookies. A popular way of decorating the Alfajor Cookies is to dust powdered sugar on top of them. You can also drizzle chocolate over them, or completely coat each cookie sandwich in chocolate.

Other options include: coat the sides in chopped almonds, or in shredded coconut.

Can I freeze Alfajor Cookies?

This Alfajor Recipe is also perfect for making ahead for the holiday season. You can make the cookie dough, cut the cookies, and freeze the cut cookies unbaked for up to 2 months.

Place the tray with the cut cookies in the freezer, once the cookies are frozen solid, about 2 hours later, layer them in an air tight container, between sheets of parchment paper.

When ready to bake, you can remove them from the freezer, place them in a baking tray lined with a parchment paper, or silicone mat, and bake on the pre-heated oven. No need to thaw the cookies.

You can also try to freeze the shaped cookies, though for a much fresher result, I recommend freezing the unbaked cookies instead.

These are the containers I recommend for storing frozen cookies:

For these Alfajor Cookies, you can use homemade dulce de leche or store-bought to fill them.

If you are going the store-bought route, I recommend getting the real deal, get a really good brand of dulce de leche! Here are the brands I recommend on Amazon, that are the real deal:

Honestly, my favorite is Havanna, it’s the best Dulce de Leche in the world, aside from the artisanal ones I find in Brazil when I go visit my family.

However, there’s a much cheaper solution to having Dulce de Leche, and it’s to make it at home! It’s super easy to make Dulce de Leche at home, and it’s incredibly delicious as well.

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE DULCE DE LECHE

Simply start with a can of condensed milk. Now, there are some options here.

1. Making dulce de leche in the oven– Pour the inside of the condensed milk can in an oven-proof pan, and bake over a water bath for about 2-3 hours, stirring in between, covered with foil, at 350F.
2. Making dulce de leche on the stove top– there are two ways to make dulce de leche on the stove top with a sealed can of condensed milk.

• First is to use a pressure cooker, which is the fastest way. Place sealed can in a pressure cooker full of water, covering the can by at least 2 inches. Cook under pressure for 30 minutes. Let pressure release naturally and let can and water both cool down all the way before removing and opening the can.
• If you just want to use a regular pot, make sure it’s a large pot of water, where the can will be submerged the whole time. Boil sealed can for about 2 1/2 hours. Let can and water cool down all the way before removing and opening the can.

Regardless of the method you choose to make your dulce de leche, make sure to always let it cool down before handling it. And leave it in the fridge for a few hours before piping so dulce de leche will be cold and have proper texture.

Can I freeze Dulce de Leche?

Yes, Dulce de Leche will freeze beautifully. Place it in an air tight container, or in a zip loc bag, and freeze for up to 2 months.

Why you are going to love this Alfajor Recipe

• The cornstarch cookie is light, flaky, and buttery, it basically melts in your mouth, and it’s not dry like so many alfajor recipes I’ve tried before.
• The ratio dulce de leche to cookie is just perfect, as the cookies aren’t extremely thick.
• The cookies are soft, with a gooey center.
• There are many ways you can make these cookies ahead of time.
• These Alfajor Cookies will last for up to 1 week in the fridge.

Here are some more Dulce de Leche recipes you may like:

• Dulce de Leche Thumbprint Cookies
• Dulce de Leche Cake
• Dulce de Leche Bars
• Dulce de Leche Donuts
• Dulce de Leche Cupcakes
• Chocolate and Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Pie
• Dulce de Leche Snickerdoodles

Also, don’t forget to check out the Cookie Box I added these Alfajor Cookies to.

Thanks for reading my blog, have a lovely day!

Alfajor Cookies

Camila Hurst

Alfajor Cookies are buttery cornstarch cookies filled with dulce de leche, often decorated with a drizzle of chocolate, or powdered sugar dusted on top, or with the sides coated in shredded coconut, or chopped almonds.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Resting time 3 hours hrs

Course Dessert

Cuisine Argentina

Servings 20 cookie sandwiches

Calories 240 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 1  cup  cornstarch  120 grams, 4.2 oz
• 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour  95 grams, 3.37 oz
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/4  teaspoon  fine sea salt
• 10 tablespoons  unsalted butter at room temperature 141 grams, 5 oz
• 1/3  cup  granulated sugar  66 grams, 2.3 oz
• 3  large egg yolks
• 1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/4  teaspoon  almond extract
• 3/4  cup  dulce de leche store-bought or homemade read post above for instructions on how to make dulce de leche
• 2  oz  chopped chocolate to drizzle on top of the cookies if you want to*

Instructions

 

Alfajor Cookies

• Sift the cornstarch, flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter at medium high speed for 1 minute.
• Add granulated sugar. Cream for another 1-2 minutes until very fluffy and light in color.
• Add egg yolks one at a time, and mix until combined before adding the next one.
• Add vanilla and almond extract.
• Mix to combine.
• Add dry ingredients and mix until you form a dough.
• Dough should be soft and not too sticky.
• Wrap it in plastic or place it in a ziplock bag and chill it in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
• When it’s time to roll the cookies out, remove dough from the fridge and cut it into 4 pieces. Work with one piece at a time, while keeping the others covered.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
• Roll it out until about 1/2 thick over a floured surface.
• Dough might be breaking up, simply patch it back together by patting it down with your fingers.
• I used a 2.5 inch cutter to cut the cookies.
• Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes. Cookies should look set, but not too browned.
• Let them cool down all the way before filling with the dulce de leche. I placed my dulce de leche in a piping bag to make it easier to fill the cookies.
• After filling the cookies, I melted some dark chocolate and drizzled it over the cookies.

Storage

• Keep cookies in the fridge for up to 5 days, in an air tight container.

Notes

*You can also dust the cookies with powdered sugar, or completely cover them with chocolate. Other serving suggestions are coating the sides in shredded coconut, or chopped almonds.

Keyword alfajor, cookies