Alfajores de Dulce de Leche

3.9

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Buttery shortbread meets creamy caramel in these irresistible South American sandwich cookies.

Martha Stewart

Updated on May 7, 2024

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Martha's take on the beloved South American sandwich cookie, alfajores, features melt-in-the-mouth shortbread rounds sandwiched with an easy homemade dulce de leche. Her shortcut dulce de leche is made by cooking down sweetened condensed milk. Make and chill it before you start on the cookies; it takes a while to transform into a thick caramel on the stovetop. (You can make it as far as a month ahead if you like.) Some versions of alfajores include nuts or coconut but Martha keeps it simple and buttery, and we love that. Be sure to share this dessert with all the caramel lovers you know.

alfajores de dulce de leche — Bryan Gardner

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Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
½ cup water
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Easy Dulce de Leche, chilled

Directions

Prep baking sheet; sift flour and sugar:

Line a baking sheet with parchment or a nonstick baking mat (such as Silpat). Sift together flour and confectioners' sugar.
Make cookie dough:

In a food processor, pulse together flour mixture and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 20 seconds. With machine running, pour in the water in a slow steam and process just until the dough comes together, about 20 seconds.
Form discs and refrigerate:

Form the dough into 2 flattened disks and wrap well in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour.
Preheat oven and roll dough:

Preheat oven to 350°F. On a well-floured work surface, roll out 1 disk of dough to a scant 1/4-inch thickness.
Cut out cookies:

Using a 1 3/4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds from dough and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with other disk of dough. Gather up the scraps from both batches, and reroll and cut. Sprinkle half the rounds with sanding sugar.
Bake:

Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble sandwich cookies:

About 30 minutes before serving, spread 1 to 2 teaspoons of the cold dulce de leche on bottom of unsugared cookies. Place sugared cookies on top to make sandwiches. Serve immediately.

Make sure to spread the filling not more than 30 minutes in advance or cookies will become too soft.

Storing Alfarores

Unfilled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Remaining dulce de leche can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator as well.