Kazia Jankowski - big world | small kitchen

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Alone with Alfajores

The year I turned 20, my independent streak got the better of me. I was studying abroad in Chile—and I decided that, although I’d had plenty of “me time”, living in a foreign country, with a foreign family, speaking a foreign language, I still wanted to spend the summer traveling by myself. So come January, the beginning of the South American summer, I packed a backpack and headed out to explore Chile and Argentina.

During the next three months, hiking under Patagonian rainbows and reading on cool Chilean beaches, I saw a lot of stop-in-your-track views, but I also dealt with my share of loneliness.

To ease the latter, I took to savoring good food wherever I could find it—and that often meant at pit stops on long bus rides through Argentina. Argentinean bus stops are welcoming cafes. In the middle of wind-blown nowhere, the bus pulls up to a warm bar that serves steaming, strong espresso; thick hot chocolate; toasty ham and cheese sandwiches; and alfajores, dulce de leche sandwich cookies.

These quintessential Argentinean pastries squeeze a generous dose of dark, gooey caramel between two flaky, buttery cookies, and they decorate the bar of most bus-stop cafés. I quickly learned that the elegant sweetness of one or two alfajores could fill a few hours on a bumpy road almost as well as the conversation of a friend.

That summer, alfajores became my to-go treat, and when I returned to the United States, they became my go-to dessert whenever anyone requested I bring a Latin dish to a dinner party. These small white cookies with their golden edges, dusting of powdered sugar, and creamy caramel centers easily impress a crowd.

I became even more convinced of the cookies’ charm after my year of guidebook writing in Peru. There I learned the trick of bite-sized alfajores, and when I brought the tradition back to the United States, I found myself frequently fielding questions about the stores in which I sold my dulce de leche sandwich cookies.

My alfajores haven’t made it to grocery store shelves. But last week, when the Culinary Director of the branding firm I work for asked me to make a sweet reflective of South American flavors, I didn’t hesitate. I pulled the butter from the fridge, the powdered sugar out of the cupboard, and I opened a new jar of dulce de leche.

Like on those bumpy Latin American bus rides, I turned on the hip-hop and Julio Iglesias. Then, I beat butter into sugar; brandy into eggs; flour and cornstarch into everything. I rolled out a firm, pliable dough and cut perfect yellow circles of it. And as I did so, I couldn’t help but appreciate the moment. Just me and alfajores, like on those winding Argentinean bus rides of nearly a decade ago.

Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies (Alfajores)
Makes about 40 cookies

Next to its cash register, every self-respecting Argentinean or Peruvian bakery has a plate of these light, flaky, butter cookies, filled with dark, caramel-y dulce de leche. You’d be silly to pay without snagging one.

But if a trip to South America isn’t in your future (or even if it is), you can easily make your own alfajores. This recipe is fairly straightforward and easily allows for substitutions. Don’t have brandy? Use rum. Want bigger cookies? Use a 3-inch, circular cutter. Feel free to play around with brands of dulce de leche. The sweet is widely available in Latin markets and upscale grocery stores. My favorite brand is La Salamandra, a darker, savory caramel.

1 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
3 tablespoons brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ¾ cup dulce de leche
Powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed. Mix until light and fluffy, about one minute. Wipe down edges of bowl and continue beating, while adding egg yolks, egg, brandy, and vanilla. Mix until well combined, about one minute.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Whisk until light and fluffy. Add 1/3 of flour mixture to butter mixture, and beat until combined. Repeat with remaining flour. When done, wipe down sides of the bowl, and beat dough for 30 seconds. Your dough will be soft and pliable. Divide it in half, pat into a disk, and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place racks in the middle of oven. On a lightly floured surface, working with one disk at a time, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into circle, an 1/8 inch thick. With a floured 1 ½ to 2 inch, round cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Place cookies ½ inch apart on buttered cookie sheet. Gather remaining dough, pat into disk, chill (if necessary), and repeat.

Bake cookies until lightly golden around the edges, about 10 minutes. If baking more than one sheet of cookies at a time, switch baking sheet half way through.

Set cookies to cool. Allow them to rest 5 minutes on the baking sheet, before moving them to cooling racks. When cookies are completely cool, about 30 minutes, begin making sandwiches.

Flip half the cookies so that the bottom side is up. Dollop the center of each bottom with a generous ½ teaspoon dulce de leche. Spread out dulce de leche, maintaining a narrow edge of cookie. Top with another cookie, making sure that the bottom of the cookie is again touching the caramel spread.

Finish cookies with a generous sprinkling of powdered sugar.

For printable recipe, click here.

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