Alfajores de maicena.
"Alfajores de maicena" are delicious South American cookies. It is a luscious layer of "dulce de leche" sandwiched between two crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth cornstarch cookies.
Yield: 12 cookies
Materials
- 90 g softned butter
- 80 g powdered sugar
- 36 g egg yolks
- 110 g all-purpose flour
- 140 g cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 orange zest
- 1 lemon zest
- dulce de leche
- dessicated coconut flakes
Instructions
For the dulce de leche:
- To make your own dulce de leche, follow my blog post, where I explain how to make it from a can of condensed milk.
- If you want to skip all the hustle, you can easily buy pre-made dulce de leche at most grocery stores or online. For this recipe, you'll need the thicker version that says "repostero" on the label; here's the link.
For the cookies:
- Combine all the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and set aside.
- Place the softened butter and granulated sugar into a large bowl of a stand mixer equipped with the paddle attachment and mix at high speed until nice and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl sides using a rubber spatula.
- Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture one at a time, waiting until the previous one is incorporated, then add the vanilla essence and lemon zest.
- Turn the mixer to low speed, then add the dry ingredients one spoonful at a time.
- Mix at medium speed until the dough comes together.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, then place it in the refrigerator overnight
- The next day, remove the dough from the fridge and move it to a lightly floured surface.
- Roll dough using a rolling pin into a square 5-inch thick; try to make it as even as possible. Then cut the dough using a round cookie cutter or a glass into 2-inch circles.
- Move the cookies to two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Grab the scraps and re-roll, and cut them like before. If the dough becomes too warm, move it to the freezer for 10 minutes until it's easy to handle.
- Once all the cookies are formed, move the baking trays to the freezer for 8-10 minutes. This step is essential to ensure the cookies stay in shape while baking.
- Bake cookies directly from the freezer;
- Place into a preheated oven at 350° F, for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden at the edges and crispy at the bottom.
- Let the cookies cool off for 10 minutes, then move them to a wire rack.
- Fill a piping bag with the dulce de leche (at room temperature) and pipe it to the bottom half of the cookie. Sandwich together with another half of the cookie and gently press to squeeze the filling all over the cookie.
- Roll the alfajores edges into desiccated coconut flakes and enjoy!