Henry's Alfajores Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 tsp. vanilla or vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 14 oz. store bought or homemade dulce de leche (see recipe below)

How to Make Alfajores (Peruvian Style)

  1. Make the dulce de leche.
  2. Whisk together the dry ingredients.
  3. Beat the butter and vanilla extract/paste.
  4. Add the egg yolk (optional).
  5. Pour in the dry ingredient mixture and combine.
  6. Scoop the dough out of the bowl and form it into a ball. Place it in the center of a sheet of plastic wrap and press it into about a 2-inch round. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
  7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  8. Roll out the dough. Flour your rolling pin and surface and stamp out the cookies.
  9. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, stamp out cookies.
  10. Stamp the tops of the cookies with a fork.
  11. Bake the cookies for about 11 – 13 min. Until blond.
  12. Fill them with the dulce de leche.
  13. Roll the sides in powdered sugar.
  14. Enjoy!

How to Make Dulce de Leche

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Pour sweetened condensed milk into a small baking dish and cover with foil.
  3. Place the small dish inside a larger dish and fill the larger dish halfway with water to create a water bath.
  4. Bake for 1 – 1.25 hours, refilling the water at the 45-minute mark if necessary.
  5. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
  6. Take off the foil, remove the small dish from the water bath, and whisk the dulce de leche until smooth.
  7. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
  8. To soften refrigerated dulce de leche, place the container in a bowl of warm water.