Alfajores de Maicena (Uruguayan Cornstarch Cookies with Dulce de Leche)
Local name: Alfajores de maicena
In short: Delicate, crumbly cornstarch cookies sandwiched with dulce de leche and rolled in coconut, a Uruguayan tea-time classic. It takes about 1 h 25 min in total and makes 12 servings.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Resting
- 1 h
- Total
- 1 h 25 min
- Servings
- 12
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 315 kcal
Alfajores de maicena are the pale, melt-in-the-mouth sandwich cookies found in every Uruguayan bakery. The dough is mostly cornstarch and flour, which makes the cookies tender and crumbly, with butter, egg yolks and a little lemon zest for aroma. Two cookies are joined with a thick layer of dulce de leche, and the edges are rolled in desiccated coconut. Handle the dough gently and bake the cookies pale, never brown.
Instructions
- Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together into a bowl.
- Beat the butter and sugar for 3 to 4 minutes until pale and creamy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then the vanilla and lemon zest.
- Fold in the dry ingredients just until a soft dough forms. Divide in two, flatten into disks, wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Heat the oven to 170°C (340°F) and line two baking trays with parchment.
- Roll each disk between two sheets of parchment to 5 mm (1/4 in) thick. Cut 5 cm (2 in) rounds and place them 2 cm (3/4 in) apart on the trays, re-rolling the scraps once.
- Bake one tray at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, until set and still very pale, with the underside barely golden. Cool on the trays for 5 minutes, then on a rack.
- Spread about 2 teaspoons of dulce de leche on the flat side of half the cookies and top each with a second cookie, pressing gently.
- Roll the exposed edges of the filling in the coconut. Let the alfajores set for 30 minutes before serving.
Tips
- Cornstarch dough is fragile. Roll it between parchment, and chill it again if it gets soft.
- Store the filled alfajores in a closed tin for a day. The cookies take up moisture from the filling and soften, which is how they are meant to be eaten.
Questions and answers
What is dulce de leche and where do I get it?
It is a thick caramel spread made by slowly cooking sweetened milk. Buy it in jars at Latin markets, or bake a covered dish of sweetened condensed milk in a water bath at 180°C (350°F) for 1 1/2 hours.
How long do alfajores keep?
Up to 5 days in an airtight tin at room temperature. Unfilled cookies freeze well for 2 months.
Why are my alfajores hard?
They were overbaked or the dough was overworked. Bake until just set and barely golden, and stop mixing as soon as the dough comes together.
How long does it take to make Alfajores de Maicena (Uruguayan Cornstarch Cookies with Dulce de Leche)?
About 1 h 25 min in total: 40 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking.
How many calories are in Alfajores de Maicena (Uruguayan Cornstarch Cookies with Dulce de Leche)?
About 315 kcal per serving, with 4 g of protein, 41 g of carbohydrates and 15 g of fat. These values are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 315 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 41 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
| Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 22 g |
| Sodium | 120 mg |
Estimated values, calculated from the ingredients.
