Edited and written by Catherine Cunningham. Published November 28th 2021.
Original recipe by Muy Delish.
Coming from all the way over the world, Alfajores traveled down to South America from Spain! Back in the 16th century when immigrants were on their journey Alfajores were used to fill up and to provide a delicious treat. The travelers shared their favorite cookie treats to every country they went to, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and are even popular in other countries they colonized/had influence over like the Philippines, Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Alfajores are sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche, a caramel confection sauce made from milk and sugar. The coconut flakes aren’t added to every type of Alfajores in every country where they are beloved, but in Argentina, the extra flare of coconut was and is a huge hit!
Ingredients
1 cup of flour
1 cup of cornstarch
1 teaspoon of baking powder
¼ teaspoon of baking soda
¼ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ cup of granulated sugar
8 tablespoons of unsalted butter 1 stick, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of warm water
1 cup of coconut flakes
½ of powder sugar
8 ounces of Caramel (dulce de leche)
Instructions
- Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt in a bowl.
- Next in a new bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg yolks and beat to combine.
- Then add in the vanilla extract, water and lemon zest, and beat until just combined.
- Add flour mixture, and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and chill until firm, at least 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove dough from plastic wrap and place on a lightly floured surface, flour a rolling pin and roll out to about ¼ inch thick. Cut the dough with a 1 inch cookie cutter.
- Place cookies on prepared sheet pans about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for about 9 minutes. The edges should be pale golden.
- Transfer the baking pan to a rack and allow to cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.
- Spread about two teaspoons of caramel onto the back of half the cookies. Place a second cookie on top and gently press to create a sandwich and repeat.
- Roll sides in coconut and dust generously with powdered sugar before serving!
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