Alfajores

Name: Alfajores
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 26 min
Total time: 46 min
Yield: 15 3 inch cookies
Ingredients: 12 ounces unsalted butter, at a cool room temperature; 1 cup confectioners' sugar; 2 tablespoons granulated sugar; 3 cups flour, plus more for the work surface; 1/3 cup ground almonds; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/4 teaspoon almond extract; 2 cups dulce de leche (see headnote)

Submitted by Busters friend

"Alfajores are a kind of South American cookie popular in Peru and Argentina. This version has a touch of almond in the crisp butter cookies that sandwich the caramel filling (dulce de leche). Dulce de leche can be found at most Latin markets and on the international aisle of well-stocked grocery stores. Found in The Washington Post & saving for rainy Saturday Christmas baking this weekend. Prep time does not include a minimum 1 hour chill time. The cookie dough can be refrigerated for 1 week. If the dough is thoroughly chilled, allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling it out. The unfilled baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days. Filled cookies are best eaten day the same day they are assembled, but can be kept at room temperature for 2 days."

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Ready In:: 46mins
Ingredients:: 9
Yields:: 15 3 inch cookies

ingredients

For the cookies
12 ounces unsalted butter, at a cool room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 cups flour, plus more for the work surface
¹⁄₃ cup ground almonds
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon vanilla extract
¹⁄₄ teaspoon almond extract
For assembly
2 cups dulce de leche (see headnote)

directions

For the cookies: Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on low speed to combine, then on high speed for 5 to 7 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Whisk together the flour, ground almonds and salt in a separate bowl.
Add the vanilla and almond extracts to the butter-sugar mixture. Beat on medium speed, then reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour-almond mixture just until incorporated; do not overmix the dough.
Wrap the dough in wax paper or place it in a large resealable plastic food storage bag and flatten it out. Refrigerate for 1 hour. If the dough is chilled longer, let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling it out.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have 2 ungreased baking sheets at hand and a 3-inch-round cookie cutter.
Lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the dough to thickness of 1/4 inch. (You can do this in batches, keeping the unworked portion refrigerated.) Use the 3-inch round cookie cutter for the cookies; repeat as needed to make 30 rounds of dough. The cookies will not spread so you can place them close together. Bake one sheet at a time in the middle of the oven for about 13 minutes. The cookies will not appear browned. For a nuttier, browned butter flavor, bake the cookies for a few extra minutes; watch them carefully.
Let cool on the baking sheet for about 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
To assemble: Invert half of the cookies on the work surface. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the dulce de leche on each upturned cookie. The filling will spread as it sits, but you can smooth it to the edges if it is very thick. Be gentle when spreading. Too much pressure on the delicate cookies will break them.
Top with the remaining cookies to form cookie sandwiches.

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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Busters friend

Pleasure Island, 73

First about Buster: Buster moved onto whatever comes next on February 26, 2008. He was just shy of five years old. I miss him terribly. He came into our lives when he ran out in front of my car late one night as I was driving home. A just under 4 pound ball of kitten fluff, complete with an ostrich boa tail that stayed straight up as he assessed his new domain. He became a 19 pound longhaired beast who guarded our house (he followed any new guests or servicepeople the entire time they are on the property) & even killed copperheads (among other things with his hunting buddy, Fergus the short-tailed)! Friends never saw his formidible side as he smiled at them & uttered the most incongruent kitten-like mews as he threaded legs! He liked to ride in the car & came to the beach. There are Buster-approved recipes in my offerings - however, HE decided which he wanted to consider - Buster demonstrated he liked pumpkin anything - ALOT -LOL!!! Copperhead count 2006 - Buster 2 (10 inchers w/yellow tails) 2007 - Buster & Roxie 1 (a 24 incher!) Buster woken from beauty sleep - http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0335.JPG Big whiskers - http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0333.JPG For those of you who gave kind condolences - thank you so very much. http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=250301 I love to cook & incorporate techniques from Southern/Mid Atlantic roots (grits, eastern NC BBQ shoulders, Brunswick stew, steamed crabs & shrimp & shellfish, hushpuppies, cornbread, greens, shad roe, scrapple) with Pacific Rim foods & techniques aquired while living in Pacific Northwest, fish & game recipes learned while living in Rocky Mountain region & foods/techniques learned travelling to the Big Island & up into BC & Alberta & into the Caribbean. The Middle Eastern/African likes I have are remnants of my parents who lived for many years in North Africa & Mediterranean before I was thought of. Makes for wide open cooking! Since moving back east we try to go annually in the deep winter to Montreal (Old Montreal auberges & La Reine) & Quebec City (Winter Carnival & Chateau Frontenac)- for unctuous foie gras & real cheeses, French & Canadian meals prepared & served exquisitely, fantastic music & wonderful people - with the cold helping burn off some of the calories! I love putting in our aluminum jonboat & heading across the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to the barrier islands for foraging & exploring! Bodysurfing is a lifelong sport for me - one that a person's body never seems to forget how to do, once the knack is learned (thank goodness!) I especially miss cool summers & foggy/drizzly days & fall mushroom foraging/anytime of year hot springing in WA, OR, MT, ID, BC & Alberta.

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