Alfajores: The Best Cookies from Uruguay

OK, yes, I am watching the world championship of soccer. That’s because my birth country Uruguay made it to the quarter finals, beating the former winner of the European cup Portugal, yay! For that reason I felt like making alfajores, these are the best cookies from Uruguay. Originally alfajores are from Spain. Don’t ask me how they are made in Spain. All I know is that the Uruguayan version is always a sandwich cookie, similar to sugar cookies. These cookies, however, are a little bit drier and crumblier. That’s because they are filled with dulce de leche, caramel made from sweetened milk. The dry cookie balances out the sweet dulce de leche nicely. Since I am a chocoholic, I had to go with the chocolate version, which means that the sandwich cookies are dunked in chocolate. How can this not be good?Alfajores can be found everywhere in Uruguay and Argentina. You will find them in school lunchboxes as well as a sought-after souvenir in airports. What I like about my version is that you can easily keep them for weeks as the chocolate serves as a protective layer. However, I do hope that your cookies will not last as long. At least mine were gone within minutes when I made them.

Credit: As found in the Argentinian cookbook “Cocineros Argentinos”, page 208 “Deliciosos alfajores marplatenses” (in Spanish)

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Alfajores: The Best Cookies from Uruguay

Serves: About 16-22 alfajores

Cooking Time: 45min preparation + 8-10 min of baking

These alfajores marplatenses are the best cookies from Uruguay. A chocolate shortbread cookie with dulce de leche sandwiched in between and covered in melted chocolate.

Ingredients

• Cookies
• 150 grams of butter at room temperature
• 70 grams of regular sugar
• 1 egg
• 25 grams of honey
• 170 grams of all-purpose flour
• 80 grams of cornstarch
• 30 grams of unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 
  
• Filling
• About 400 grams of dulce de leche (alternatively one can of sweetend evaporated milk)
• 500 grams of semi-sweet chocolate
• 100 grams of butter
• Zest of one organic orange

Instructions

1

In this video you can see how I make them. Tip: If you din't find any dulce de leche, I recommend first preparing the cream.

2

For the cookies cream the butter with the sugar for a few minutes. Then add the egg and honey and mix well. Add flour, cornstarch, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder and mix until you get a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least half an hour or overnight.

3

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

4

Divide dough into two parts, put one part back in the fridge before using. Roll out second part to about 2 millimeters and cut out round cookies with 5 centimeters in diameter. This can be done with a cookie cutter or glass. You should get 30 cookies in total or even more, I get about 40. Bake one baking sheet at the time for about 8-10min. Let cookies cool.

5

For the filling look for two cookies of the same size and place about one teaspoon of dulce de leche onto the bottom one before sandwiching together. If you can't get dulce de leche, boil one unopened can of sweetened evaporated milk for about 2 1/2 hours. Make sure the can is always covered in hot water. Cool before opening and using the cream as your dulce de leche.

6

Chop semi-sweet chocolate and melt with butter and orange zest on low heat. Dunk each sandwich cookie into the chocolate and let cool off before serving.

Notes

These cookies keep well for several weeks if kept in an airtight container and chilled.

If you are interested in another Uruguayan recipe, how about this peach layer cake? If fresh peaches are not in season, you can also take canned ones. It consists of peacher, sponge cake, whipped cream, dulce de leche and meringue. Check out the recipe.

Peach layer cake from Uruguay