Alfajores cookies

Every time we go to Vegas we eat at an Argentine restaurant just off the strip. We enjoy the food there A LOT. Sam says it is as authentic and you can get. Sam always buys cookies there on our way out called alfajores. Its a biscuit cookie with dulce de leche in the middle. When I decided to do the paella I knew I needed to do these cookies but I've never made them and didn't have a recipe either. It's times like these that I love the internet. All I had to do was type "alfajores recipe" and I had tons of different options. I went with one from a blog called Recipe Girl and it was delish! The biscuit wasn't too sweet and the homemade dulce de leche was amazing. Try them. I did tweak the recipe a bit to use ingredients I had on hand. Also I think these were better the next day just be sure to refrigerate them.

Alfajores
adapted from Recipegirl.com

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup dulce de leche (recipe follows)

Directions:                                                                                                                                               Beat butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy. Add egg yolks and mix. Add vanilla and milk; mix well and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add dry mixture to butter mixture and work together with your hands until all is combined and the dough is soft. Do not add any extra flour. You may wish to add a few drops of milk if the dough appears crumbly. Cover and chill for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with half of the dough at a time (keep the other half refrigerated)-- on a floured work surface, roll out dough to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Cut into 2-inch rounds and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Repeat rolling/cutting with 2nd half of chilled dough. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until done. The cookies should be dry but not brown. When cookies are cool, match them up into pairs of like-sizes. Turn one cookie over and spread a dollop of dulce de leche onto the flat part of the cookie. Place its partner on top (flat side down) and gently press so that the caramel comes to the edges. Roll edges in coconut and place on rack to set. Continue with the rest of the cookie pairs. When ready to serve, sift a light layer of powdered sugar over the tops of the cookies and place them on a platter.

Tips:

*Make sure that your room temperature butter is pretty soft. If it's too firm, your cookie dough will tend to be more crumbly.
*Rounds are the typical shape used for these cookies. Try using different shaped round cutters. I made some 2-inch and then made some much smaller ones too.

Homemade Dulce De Leche
adapted from Recipegirl.com

1 can sweetened condensed milk (any size)
boiling water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Open up the can and pour the sweetened-condensed milk into a pie pan. Cover tightly with foil. Place into a larger pan and pour boiling water in larger pan & around pie plate (level of water should be about halfway up the pie plate). Don't let any water seep up and into the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour. At the one hour point, peel off foil and check for progress. If the mixture has thickened and turned a caramel color, it's done. If it doesn't quite look thick enough or dark enough, cover it up and bake it a little longer (mine took 85 minutes). When the mixture appears to have turned into a nice, thick caramel, remove from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, and then beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Tips:

*Store in a covered container until ready to use (within a few days). Probably storing in the refrigerator is best, but return to room temperature when ready for recipe.
*We also love ducle de leche milkshakes and put it on top of ice cream. Argentines dip everything in it. Most popular is bananas.