These Alfajores recipe is easy to make and absolutely delicious. Perfect for snack or dessert with a cup of coffee or tea.
What are Alfajores?
Alfajor is a sugar cookie filled with dulce de leche or arequipe popular in Colombia as well as other parts of South America. Like many Latin recipes this dessert has different variations depending of the country and family. This is my recipe for Alfajores that I grew up eating in Colombia.
Some people like to roll these cookies in shredded coconut, dust them with powdered sugar or both. I usually made them both ways, half a batch with coconut and sugar and the other half with just powdered sugar.
Ingredients to Make this Recipe
You'll find the printable recipe card below with exact amounts and baking directions.
Flour: You need all-purpose flour to make these cookies. Be sure to measure well.
Butter: Unsalted butter at room temperature.
Vanilla Extract: Use a good quality for good flavor.
Powdered Sugar: To make the cookie dough and to dust the cookies before serving.
Cornstarch: The mixture of flour and corn starch makes the cookie melt in your mouth.
Arequipe: Also known as dulce de leche or cajeta for the filling. You can buy it at any supermarket or online. Here is my recipe for homemade dulce de leche if you want to make it from scratch.
Shredded Coconut: This ingredient is optional and you can use unsweetened or sweetened depending on your taste.
How to Make Alfajores
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl mix the butter and powdered sugar. Add the flour, corn starch and vanilla extract then mix with your hands into well combined. Knead together to form a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and knead for about 2 minutes. Roll out to about ¼ inch-thick and cut out the cookies with a round cookie cutter.
Place them on a floured cookie sheet and bake for about 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. In a small plate, place the flaked coconut and set aside.
Spread arequipe or dulce de leche on each cookie then put together two cookies, making a sandwich with the arequipe in the middle of the two cookies. When you put the cookies together you’ll want some arequipe to come out of the sides. Take the plate with coconut and cover the edges of each alfajor cookie with it, rolling the cookie edge in the flaked coconut if using. Sprinkle them with powdered sugar and enjoy.
I don’t love to bake but Alfajores are my favorite cookies and I just had to make them for my recipe blog. These delicate dulce de leche sandwich cookies are delicious!
The cookies are not too sweet, and had a delicate, soft, and crumbly texture. Combined with the dulce de leche filling and powdered sugar on top, it is the perfect balance of textures and flavors.
More Recipes to Make with Dulce de Leche
Chocolate Cake with Dulce de Leche Filling
Dulce de Leche and Coconut Cake Roll
Three Milks Cake with Dulce de Leche
Alfajores Recipe (Dulce de Leche Cookie Sandwiches)
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 pound butter room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 11/4 cup powdered sugar divided
- 1 cup arequipe or dulce de leche
- ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- In a large bowl mix the butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar.
- Add the flour, corn starch and vanilla extract then mix with your hands into well combined.
- Knead together to form a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and knead for about 2 minutes. Roll out to about ¼ inch-thick and cut out the cookies with a round cookie cutter.
- Place them on a floured cookie sheet and bake for about 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. In a small plate, place the flaked coconut and set aside.
- Spread arequipe or dulce de leche on each cookie then put together two cookies, making a sandwich with the arequipe in the middle of the two cookies. When you put the cookies together you’ll want some arequipe to come out of the sides. Take the plate with coconut and cover the edges of each alfajor cookie with it, rolling the cookie edge in the flaked coconut if using.
- Sprinkle them with powdered sugar and enjoy.
Christine
Hello approximately what size round cookie cutter I should use? I like the size of your cookies in the picture. Thanks
Elena
Excuse me, for my question, but I want to be sure- pound of butter is 450 g for 160g*3= for 480 g flour?
It's right?
Thanks in advance, Elena
Ana
I'm a new at this...I need to make 5 dz can I start in advance and freeze the dough? and then the night before bake all? also how can I freeze it...make a roll or cut the cookies and then freeze?
please help this primipara!
Karen
I just wanted to confirm that these should have no egg yolk unlike the other alfajores recipes I've seen. The consistency of my dough is like frosting. I want to double check before I bake then off. Thanks!
Corina
I love dulce de leche and what a great filling it must make to sandwich these cookies together!
Adriana Gutiérrez
They are delicous but so, so rich! I'm glad I made them small (used a champagne flute for a cutter).
I only had a partial container of Dulce de Leche in the house so I used Nutella for the rest. OMG! I think the Nutella ones are even better than the classic ones.
Adriana Gutiérrez
Do you have are ipe for homemade Dulce de Leche? I know you can do it with condensed milk in a pressure cooker.
Erica Dinho
Here are two recipes: https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/arequipe-or-dulce-de-leche/
https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/how-to-make-dulce-de-leche-or-arequipe-in-the-oven/
Adriana Gutiérrez
Mil gracias! The oven method looks so easy!
Paulina
I couldn't get the mix to turn into dough. I added some orange juice to it and finally got it to hold together, somewhat. Has this happened to anyone else? I froze the dough, and hope I get a response before I attempt to roll this dough. Thank you.
Adriana Gutiérrez
Has anybodymade these in a food processor?
grace
this is something with which i'm familiar! i love these cookies--they're decadent without being too intimidating. 🙂
Elsa Monroe
My daughter made these for a Spanish class project. She's a freshman in high school. They turned out really well, and the whole class loved them!
Stacy
Too funny, my daughter's freshman Spanish class project is what led me to this recipe.
Rhonda
Laura or anyone else who can't get cornstarch: any plain starch should be fine as a substitute. Potato starch (not potato flour) and tapioca starch are ones that should be available to you and work well.
These cookies are delicious.
The dough was soft and I was in a hurry, so instead of rolling out and cutting the dough, I wet my fingers and shaped balls instead, about 1 1/4" across, then flattened them with a couple fingers. They were about 2" across when flattened and baked.
There was enough dulce de leche to fill 20 of these (which is 40 single cookies), and about the right amount of cookie dough left over to bake in an 8x8 pan for a batch of lemon bars. 🙂
Laura
I am actually in Korea and wanting to try to make these, but finding corn starch here is nearly impossible. Do you know if there is something I can substitute corn starch with?
kari
they are not from colombia, they are from argentina......
Erica
Kari- They are a originally from Argentina,but very popular all over Colombia and South America.
Amanda
Argentina o Colombia- These cookies make me think of my childhood and thank you for having this amazing website with food de mi patria. Americana pero orgullosa de ser Colombiana ;o) Gracias Erica!
MPV
I tried this recipe over the weekend and was a hit! Thank you so much for sharing - will be baking these again soon.
antonia
you should amend your recipe. You don't have when to add the flour. For a first time baker they will be really confused.
But needless to say great cookies.
Elizabeth
These cookies turned out amazing and were a huge hit at my office! . Delicious!