Dulce De Leche Caramel Sandwich Cookies Recipes

ALFAJORES: DULCE DE LECHE SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Stir all the ingredients very well and add the lemon zest.
• Use an electric hand mixer to mix the butter with the powdered sugar (previously sifted) until you get a creamy mixture.
• Add the milk and egg yolks, continue mixing until all the ingredients are well combined.
• Add the flour mixture in batches and mix well in between adding each batch of flour. The final dough should be smooth and not sticky. If it's still sticky you can add an additional handful of flour.
• Divide the dough into two equal parts and make two balls of dough. Then gently squash each ball into a thick disk shape. Cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375F (200 ° C).
• Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to flatten and extend the dough until you have a thin layer. The maximum thickness of the layer should be about five millimeters (less than ¼ inch).
• Use a round cookie cutter mold to cut as many circles as you can. I used a 2 in (5 cm) round mold. You can make them smaller or larger, just adjust the baking time accordingly.
• Put the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leave at least two centimeters or ¾ inch of space between each cookie to keep them from sticking together.
• Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes or until they are lightly golden. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool down completely.
• Take a cooled down cookie and place a teaspoon of dulce de leche on its inner surface (the part that was stuck to the baking sheet), spread it well to the edges of the cookie and then gently stick another cookie (baking side on the caramel) on top to form a cookie sandwich.
• Place the grated dry coconut on a flat plate and roll each stuffed cookie in the coconut mix until it sticks to the dulce de leche filling, giving it the characteristic look of the alfajor cookie. You can also dust the cookies with powdered sugar.
• You can keep the alfajores or dulce de leche cookies refrigerated for a week.

ALFAJORES (DULCE DE LECHE SANDWICH COOKIES)

Steps:

• Mix flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a bowl. Place butter in a separate bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until soft and fluffy. Add white sugar and vanilla and mix well.
• Add flour mixture to the bowl with the butter mixture in 3 stages; mix until just blended. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a log. Refrigerate dough logs until firm, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Slice dough logs into 1/4-inch cookies and place on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until just starting to turn golden around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely, about 30 minutes more.
• Use a knife to apply a generous amount of dulce de leche on one cookie. Sandwich another cookie on top and place on a serving tray. Repeat with remaining cookies and dulce de leche. Lightly dust finished cookies with confectioners' sugar.

DULCE DE LECHE SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• Beat the butter, confectioners' sugar, granulated sugar and orange zest in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat until smooth. Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl, then add to the butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix for an additional 20 seconds. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it's 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, punch out as many circles as you can. Arrange the circles on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Gather the scraps, reroll and cut out more circles. If the dough starts to get soft, return to the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. Using a 3-inch cookie stamp, mark each cookie. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes.
• Bake the cookies until lightly golden around the edges, about 10 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• Spoon the dulce de leche into a pastry bag and snip a corner. Pipe the dulce de leche on half of the cookies, making sure to pipe the filling on the side without the stamp. Top each with another cookie, stamp-side up.

DULCE DE LECHE (CARAMEL) COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375.
• In small bowl, combine flour and baking soda.
• In separate bowl, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, pudding mix and syrup until smooth.
• Beat in eggs until smooth.
• Gradually beat in flour mixture and mix just until fully incorporated.
• Chill dough for 30 minutes.
• Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
• Bake 7-8 minutes (cookie will be soft and just barely done).
• Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute then remove to wire cooling rack.
• Immediately top each cookie with chopped caramels by slightly pushing caramel pieces into the top of each cookie.

DULCE DE LECHE (CARAMEL) SANDWICH COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees....I used dark colored cookie sheets so I turned my oven to 345 degrees. Line with parchment paper..(I did not do this, I used cooking spray and it worked beautifully). Also, picture to the left is the Can of Dulce de Leche...for those that have never seen it and can look for it in the store.
• 2. In a small bowl mix together with whisk...the flour, baking soda, and salt. Blend well.
• 3. In another bowl beat with a mixer the butter on medium-high until soft and smooth. Mix in the 6 tablespoons of dulce de leche, and both the brown and white sugars. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes ( I timed it and it works beautifully at that time frame). Beat in the egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. (the mixture may look curdled, don't worry.)...mine did not do that, it was smooth. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until blended nicely.
• 4. Spoon the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, using a heaping 1/2 tablespoon...(my set has a half Tablespoon in it, so I used that, the recipe actually called for a full teaspoon, but it didn't seem to be enough for me, I wanted a three bite cookie not a one bite cookie..) Place cookie dough on baking sheet about 2" apart. Bake and watch them carefully...it said 10-12 minutes, but mine were done about 8-9 minutes into the baking..so watch them closely. It could be because I used dark cookie sheets..but I did lower the temp. The cookies should look honey brown with a light crust, but will still be soft...they will set up more as they cool. Remove from oven and let cookies rest on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then remove from cookie sheet and cool completely. These are delicate until they cool..so be careful when removing them from the baking sheet.
• 5. Once cookies have cooled.. pair them in size. Spread the caramel on the flat side up...see my picture..(I dolloped a mound onto the one side of the cookie and then topped it with the second cookie and pressed gently to have the dulce de leche spread out between the cookies)...this worked well rather than spreading with a knife..cookie wanted to crack when I would try to use the knife. Repeat with remaining cookies.....and then dig in!
• 6. TIP/Suggestion...(picture to the left are the cookies filled with nutella)I ran out of the Dulce de Leche..the orginal recipe calls for 1 can..I did not have enough for the last few cookies that were left, so I had Nutella spread and filled them with it instead of the dulce de leche, and let me tell ya...they were delicious too... I added the second can in the ingredients above...you will probably have some left over..I like my cookies thick with the filling, but you judge for yourself. Any leftover caramel..the cook has to get a spoon and finish it herself...ahhh, some times it tough being the cook...(smiling as I lick my spoon as I am typing this...YUM)