Nothing defines the holiday season or evokes warm memories like cookies. While you’ve likely got a few family favorites, this indulgent, rich, sweet recipe for Alfajores [ahl-fa-HOH-rehs] will surely be added to your list. This delicate sandwich cookie has a sweet dulce de leche surprise inside.
Alfajores
Equipment
- Flour Sifter, 5-Cup
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry Board
- Steel Cooling Rack
Ingredients
WHISK
- 1 ¼ cups All-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups Cornstarch
- ½ tsp. Ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. Table salt
- ½ tsp. Baking powder
CREAM
- 1 ½ Sticks unsalted butter (12 Tbsp.), softened
- ⅔ cup Sugar
ADD
- 4 Egg yolks
- 1 tsp. Packed minced orange zest
SCOOP
- 1 can Purchased dulce de leche (13.4 oz.)
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Cream butter and sugar in a bowl with a hand mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add egg yolks and zest; beat until combined. Add half the flour mixture and blend just to combine; repeat with remaining flour mixture. Divide dough in half, shape into disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill 30 minutes or overnight. (If chilling overnight, let dough come nearly to room temperature before rolling out.)
- Roll a dough disk on a floured surface to ⅛- to ¼-inch thick. Cut dough using a 2-inch square or round cookie cutter; transfer to prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Repeat rolling and cutting, rerolling scraps once.
- Bake cookies until edges are lightly golden, about 14 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheet 1 minute, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Scoop 2 tsp. dulce de leche onto half the cookies, then top with remaining cookies. Lightly dust tops of sandwich cookies with cocoa powder.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
1 servings per container
- Amount Per ServingCalories159
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat
7g
11%
- Saturated Fat 4g 20%
- Cholesterol 48mg 16%
- Sodium 85mg 4%
- Total Carbohydrate
22g
8%
- Protein 2g 4%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

