IMBB 10 - Cookies

For many of us cookies are as much an everyday treat as they are a special occasion tradition.  Holiday cookies are no exception.  Around the world there are cookies that mark the Christmas holiday ranging in flavors from Switzerland’s brunsli, Germany's lebkuchen, Danish aebleskiver, Italian pizzelles, Czech kolacky, shortbread from Scotland. Mexico's bicochos and Russian Snowballs and of course the ubiquitous, German in origination but somehow a taste strongly associated with the holiday gingerbread cookies.

For this edition of IMBB #10 Cookies hosted by Domestic Goddess we're all about cookie swapping--holiday style.

I ended up in South America for this effort, specifically in Uruguay where there is a decidedly Italian influence on  cooking and food preparation. Uruguayans love crusty bread, pasta and pizza. Uruguayans also drink strong espresso coffee from very small cups at coffee bars and enjoy an assortment of pastries and sweets. 

It should come as no surprise to me that I first discovered alfajores in my neighborhood Italian coffee shop. But I was pleasantly enchanted by the delicate balance of shortbread tenderness and sexy sweetness of the filling--dulce de leche. This cookie treat is one of the most common cookies found throughout much of South America. People from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Peru all claim them as their own.

The recipe calls for a surprising amount of cornstarch. This ingredient lowers the flour’s protein content, so the dough will have a weaker gluten formation, and as a result the cookies will be more tender.

I ran out of dulce de leche and had cookies left over so I created simple variations including filling the middle with Nutella (outstanding), peanut butter, and rose petal jam.

Alfajores de Dulce de Leche
(Caramel Sandwich Cookies)

Based on a recipe from Sunset Magazine, December 2001

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 1/2 hours, plus at least 30 minutes to chill

MAKES: 18 to 25 sandwiches

About 1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter or margarine, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 large egg

3 tablespoons dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla

About 2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

Lemon zest

About 1 3/4 cups dulce de leche or caramel sauce (see note below)

In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat 1 cup butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg yolks, whole egg, rum, and vanilla and beat until well blended.

In a medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Stir into butter mixture, then beat until well blended. Divide dough in half, press each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in fridge until firm. The cookies can be prepared the day before up until this point.

Unwrap dough. On a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll one disk at a time to about 1/8 inch thick. With a floured, 2- to 3-inch round cutter, cut out cookies. Place about 1 inch apart on buttered 12- by 15-inch baking sheets. Gather excess dough into a ball, reroll, and cut out remaining cookies.

Bake at 350° until edges just begin to brown, about 10-13 minutes. If baking two sheets at once in one oven, switch their positions halfway through baking. Let the cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to racks to cool completely.

Flip half the cookies bottom side up and spread each with about 1 tablespoon dulce de leche. Top with remaining cookies, bottom side down. TIP:  Don’t press down on cookie top but with light pressure twist back and forth.

Easy Dulce de Leche

If you live in a city that has Mexican markets you will have a wide range of ready to go dulce de leche.  If you are not inclined to prepare your own and simply prefer to order online it'll make the preparation smoother. La Salamandra, a dairy farm located near Buenos Aires makes a very rich whole milk version.  The farm is on it's way to organic certification.

Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk into 9-inch pie plate.

Cover with aluminum foil. Place the pie plate in a in larger shallow pan filled with hot water.

Do not allow the water to cover the smaller pan.

Bake at 425 degrees for 1 hour or until thick and caramel-colored.

Beat until smooth.

Comments

[Jennifer]

Jeanne -- these cookies sound as though they are the perfect combination of cookie and candy with the dulce de leche filling! Yum!

Thanks for particiapating in IMBB # 10!

[Seattle Bon Vivant]

Hi Jeanne! Great recipe and lovely photo! We are Dulce De Leche fiends (blogged about it recently) and purchase ours from Williams Sonoma. The 16 ounce jar of La Salamandra retails for $9.50. Another brand that is quite good too is Chimbote, also from Argentina and a little less expensive. I think I paid $5.50 at a local Italian grocer. :-)

[Zarah Maria]

And you referred to æbleskiver - I'm so touched (I'm Danish I might add)! VERY Danish thing, wouldn't call it a cookie, but hey, it's small and good, so who cares?

I remember seeing alfajores all over South America when I travelled there, but never tried one - now I can! Ah, and dulce de leche - now THAT I did try. Your recipe sounds so easy - I've wanted to try making it for a while, but the boiling can project never appealed to me - so thank you for this one!

[Cathy]

Jeanne - your cookies look amazing! I have not had these before but am anxious to try them.

Thanks everyone...SBV, I'll have to look for Chimbote in at Lucca (my Italian grocer) thanks for the tip. Zarah, the boiling the can in the pot is nerve racking. The trick is to always keep it submerged in water.

[Bronwyn Rolon]

My mother always made a holiday cookie we knew only as "Ingrid's Cookies." Thanks to my neighborhood Empanada shop, I am discovering that they are in fact a version of alfajores! The cookie was a simple shortbread made with flour, powdered sugar, butter and a little ice water to bring the dough together. We always made the dulce de leche filling by covering an unopened can of condensed milk with water and keeping it at a low boil for several hours (usually during a long afternoon of holiday baking). I can't compare it to the brands of dulce de leche mentioned above, as I've never tried them, but these "Ingrid's Cookies" always tasted great to me! PS - I've never heard of rose petal jam - sounds fantastic!

[Knox Gardner]

I am curious about which bakery you bought the alfajores in and how you would rate them? Do you know others? I've not seen them around Boston (except for pre-packaged in Latin markets). We are looking to host an Argentinian theme dinner this week, and thought these would make a nice pre-dessert dessert!

Thanks!

[Marcela]

Hola Jeanne,
Thanks for your visit!

These look similar to alfajores de maicena... If you think this recipe has a lot of cornstarch, take a look at mine, that uses even more. :D
Glad to know you all love them, as well as dulce de leche.