Dulce de Leche Alfajores
This easy recipe for dulce de leche alfajores is perfect for celebrating Cinco de Mayo. A sandwich cookie with luscious dulce de leche in the middle is near perfection!
Traditionally this cookie hails from South America but I read that it is enjoyed in Mexico as well. You simply can't go wrong when dulce de leche is involved.
Dulce de leche is a thick caramel type of spread. It is luscious, smooth, rich and dreamy.
Make your own dulce de leche or buy it ready-made (that is what I did) and sandwich it generously between two plain cookies.
Dust your dulce de leche alfajores with confectioners sugar or leave plain-- the choice is yours.
I read here that in Mexico these alfajores are often rolled in shredded coconut for an added layer of flavor. I shared this batch with my book club friends who kindly had very nice things to say about these sweet cookies.
Some dulce de leche alfajores recipes include cornstarch in the ingredient list and apparently that is more traditional, but other than having a slight trouble rolling these out as thin as I would have liked, there are no problems watching a dozen or so of these dulce de leche alfajores disappear among friends.
Cinco de Mayo Cookies
Let's start off by acknowledging that Cinco de Mayo is a bigger, Americanized festivity here in the States than it is in Mexico. It is a holiday celebrated in some regions of Mexico, mainly in the area of Puebla where a fierce battle was fought in 1862 between the French and the Mexican armies.
The date does NOT commemorate Mexican's independence (actually September 16th) and is NOT like our Fourth of July. Ok, now that we agree that all of Mexico will not be sipping margaritas, tossing back tequila shots, and wearing sombreros like some of the over-done American celebrations that will go on here on May 5th, I say we dig right into these dulce de leche alfajores and enjoy!
Dulce de Leche Alfajores
A caramel sandwich cookie with scrumptious dulce de leche fillling
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¾ cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 4 Tablespoons confectioners sugar, more for optional dusting
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup purchased dulce de leche
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare two pans with parchment paper.
- A food processor is recommended and the preferred method but I didn't have one available so I made these by hand.
- Whisk together the flour and salt. Add the butter, sugar and vanilla and incorporate into the flour with a hand held pastry blender. Empty the crumbly dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead together a few times before forming a disk. Refrigerate the disk for 3 minutes.
- Roll out the dough to a thickness of ⅛-1/4 inches. Cut 2-inch circles and place on the parchment-lined trays. Repeat the process with the remaining scraps of dough.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes (note that ¼ inch cookies will take a minute or two longer than ⅛ thickness cookies) and cool on wire racks.
- Sandwich two cookies with 1 Tablespoon of dulce de leche. Dust with confectioners sugar if desired.
Notes
Recipe credit: Dulce de Leche Alfajores page 53 of Williams-Sonoma Dessert of the Day
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 39mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 0gSugar: 8gProtein: 2g
This data is provided by Nutritionix and is an estimate only.
Pin this easy recipe for dulce de leche alfajores for later!
More sandwich cookie recipes:
- Jam Sandwich Cookies
- Linzer Cookies
- Carrot Cake Cookies from Allison at Celebrating Sweets
- Ginger Sandwich Cookies
- or find a variety of cookies recipes on my Cookie Category Page
Holly Baker started the food blog, A Baker's House, in 2011. She is the writer, recipe creator, and photographer for the site. Holly loves to bake and shares recipes for gluten free food, canning recipes, as well as traditional desserts too. Her recipes and food photography have been highlighted by BuzzFeed, Reader's Digest, and She Knows.
I really like the sound of your cookies, they look so pretty.
These cookies would be calling out to me until I ate every single one of them. That is some serious deliciousness.
Yes, Renee, that is my trouble-- cookies speak to me until they disappear! I've got to learn to share more with friends before I finish off baking AND eating a batch on my own. : )
Truer words were never written: "You simply can’t go wrong when dulce de leche is involved." I could not agree more, Holly! Your alfajores look absolutely wonderful.
Thanks, Stacy, I think I could (and have) devoured dulce de leche straight from the can. These sandwich cookies simply gave me another reason to eat more dulce de leche!
You know you would think that it is Mexican independence the way it is celebrated. I tell you, any old reason to eat these cookies is fine with me. They look delicious!
Yes, any reason to get together with friends and celebrate is a good one. I always like how cinco de mayo welcomes thoughts of summertime. Eating outdoors, sipping margaritas with friends, now that sounds nice!
You're right, Holly. One can never go wrong with dulce de leche =) Your alfajores do look delicious and perfect! I admire how you seem to get perfectly even cookies...I'm thinking I'm going to start rolling out smaller batches of dough to ensure evenness. Any tips?
Thanks! My cookies weren't perfect and many had little bubbles that I just pressed back down when the cookies first came out of the oven. This dough was crumbly and I found that refrigerating it for 30 minutes made a big difference.
I looove alfajores! These look beautiful and so yummy. I learned how to make them when I lived in Costa Rica for a summer, and we rolled them in toasted coconut like you mentioned. So good! 🙂
Oh to travel and to learn about another culture's food sounds wonderful. I'll have to try the toasted coconut next time I bake these goodies.
Yum, yum, yum, those look amazing!! Thanks for sharing such a delicious looking cookie!!
Thanks, Tara, what a fun and festive month of cookies!
These are so gorgeous and sound so delicious. I totally love dulce de leche Holly and am definitely trying these!
These sound awesome! I love a shortbread type cookie and when you add in the caramel, well-my mouth is watering! I love cookies and need no celebration to eat them because eating them is a celebration for me!
Thanks, Abbe, yes I think a shortbread cookie is great by itself but adding dulce de leche makes it special. Hope you are doing well. Holly
I so wish you lived close by, Holly. I am dying to eat one of your bakes ... seriously! Such gorgeous cookies! Well done.
Thanks, Ansh, I hope you have a great weekend!
These look super yummy, I just want to eat a big spoonful of the dulce de leche right out of the can! And rolling them in coconut? That definitely sounds good too! Pinned your recipe! : )
Thanks, Crystal! Yes, the coconut sounds too good to resist too. I will definitely give that a try next week in time for Cinco de Mayo!
I love dulce de leche alfajores. They look perfect and yummy 😉
Alfajores are one of my favorite cookies, and after seeing your beautiful cookies I am craving them again.
Yeah! LOVE that you put that little explanation of Cinco de Mayo in there. I call it my excuse to eat more Mexican food than I already eat holiday. 🙂
These cookies are great. I love dulce de leche. I've never had these cookies before but I need to change that stat! Great recipe, Holly!
Thanks, Julie!
If I made these I would eat them all right there and then. Seriously. Delicious.