Alfajores

Submitted by Monica Lamberti. Alfajores are sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche. They are very typical of many Latin American countries with some variations in the dough. This is a Peruvian version of these delicious cookies!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
  • ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into small pieces, and softened
  • 1 ½ cups dulce de leche, at room temperature

Instructions:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, and butter. Pulse until dough comes together into a ball. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour so that you can shape the soft dough into a ball. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes. 
  • Sprinkle some flour onto your work surface and roll the dough ⅛ inch thick. Using a 2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and transfer them to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. 
  • Bake the cookies until they are golden and firm, about 12 – 15 minutes. Let them cool off and spread the dulce de leche to make the sandwich cookies. Dust them with confectioners’ sugar.