Sandwich-Cookies: Alfajores with Almonds

Have you every heard of “alfajores”? These are sandwich cookies that are usually filled with the caramel cream called dulce de leche. They originally stem from Andalucia in Spain, but have become extremely popular in Uruguay and Argentina. Supposedly about 10 million (!) alfajores are sold each day in Argentina in 2023. The “original” is usually made with flour and cornstarch and creates this nice crunchy texture, however, my version below contains flour and almonds instead. The classic alfajor is usually rolled in coconut flakes, however, I will used chopped almonds for this version.

What I like about alfajores a lot is the fact that these cookies can be eaten all year long. They are not ncessarily only allowed during the season, but you can bite into this deliciousness whenever you feel like it. I knew that my husband would like them, he is a huge fan of anything with almonds. So when I presented the first batch to him, he immediately declared these were the best alfajores I had made so far. Wow, that means something. I had to quickly make sure I took enough pictures before they disappeared within a few days. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did.

Credit: Kochtopf (in German)

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Almond Alfajores

Serves: About 23-25 alfajores, depending on size

Prep Time: 1hr – Cooking Time: 9min – Total Time: 1hr 10min

These almond alfajores are made with a delicious dough containing roasted almonds, sandwiched together with the caramel dulce de leche and have some more chopped almonds on the outside.

Ingredients

• 150 grams of roasted almonds
• 120 grams of butter at room temperature
• 65 grams of icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk, how to freeze egg white can be checked here
• 180 grams of all-purpose flour
• About 400-500 grams of dulce de leche, homemade or bought

Instructions

1

Chop 30 grams of roasted almonds, blitz the rest in a food processor, you want it to be fine. Set aside.

2

Then cream the butter with the icing sugar and vanilla extract for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg yolk for about 30 seconds. Add 120 grams of the fine almonds and the flour. Only mix until combined, if very crumbly, add a dash of milk. Chill tightly covered for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

3

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out circles. I used a whisky glass with about in 4.5 cm in diameter. Bake fore about 8-9min or until the edge is golden. Let cool. Sandwhich together two cookies with about a teaspoon of dulce de leche, then roll in chopped almonds.

As promised below you will find the alfajores I have published so far:

Classic alfajores

Alfajores marplatenses (with chocolate)

Alfajores de nieve with merengue

Coffee alfajores