Chocolate Alfajores
Chocolate Alfajores are a twist on the classic South American shortbread cookie. They’re made of a not so sweet shortbread cookie filled with thick and creamy milk caramel dulce de leche. There are loads of ways of making them, some people cover them completely in chocolate, some add coconut to mix, I’m going to show you the quick and easy way to make this delicious cookie!
Nicks favourite thing…
I absolutely adore how cute these cookies are. They’re really easy to put together. In this recipe I show you two different ways to make
What does it taste like?
They’re not overly sweet either. The cookies themselves have more of a cocoa flavour and aren’t very sweet. That’s evened out by the creamy milk caramel dulce de leche!
Table of Contents
What is Dulce De leche?
The words Dulce De Leche, translate to candy of milk. It is literally caramelised sugar and milk. Although don’t tell dulce de leche enthusiasts that it’s caramel. They’ll literally rip your head off haha.
Let me take this opportunity to make my case.
The only ingredient you need in to make dulce de leche is sweetened condensed milk. It’s literally sugar and milk, cooked together and then you end up with a thick and sweet milk. If you cook that and continue cooking it for a couple hours, the sugar will caramelise. Boom, milk caramel.
How do you make Dulce De Leche?
I’m going to show you two ways. The oven method and the stove top method.
Dulce De Leche (stove top method)
Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Make sure there is enough water to cover the cans when they are submerged.
Carefully add the cans of sweetened condensed milk (labels removed) into the water. Cook for 2-3 hours depending on how dark you ant it to be. Be sure to keep an eye on water levels as they can drop. If they do, add more boiling water. If they get lower than the cans the dulce de leche can explode or burn. Allow to cool to room temperature once done. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 weeks!
Dulce De Leche (oven method)
Preheat your oven to 175C / 350F. Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a baking dish and cover with foil. Place in a large deep baking dish and fill halfway with water. Place in the oven and bake for 3-4 hours, making sure to replenish the water as it evaporates. Take out of the oven every 3 hours and stir, covering back up and keeping an eye on water levels as you put it back in. Once finished, take out of the oven and allow to cool completely before using. Can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks!
What are the ingredients I need?
Sweetened condensed milk – you can use this to make your own dulce de leche or just use store bought.
All-purpose flour – also known as plain flour.
Salt – I used fine salt.
Baking powder – helps lighten the cookies.
Cocoa powder – I used unsweetened cocoa powder.
Butter – I used unsalted butter. Make sure it’s softened.
Caster sugar – also known as superfine sugar.
Eggs – I used large eggs.
Vanilla Extract – Always use good quality vanilla extract when baking, it makes a huge difference. I have a great recipe here for it if you’d like to try your own!
Let’s go through each step.
Cookies
- Add the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl and use a whisk to combine.
- Add the butter and sugar to a separate large mixing bowl. Use an electric hand mixer to whip until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well each time.
- Add the dry ingredients and use a spatula to mix until a dough forms.
- Transfer to a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap up. Shape into a disc and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 175C / 350F. Dust your workbench with flour and unwrap the dough. Begin rolling out.
- Pinching any cracks that may form back together.
- Roll out to 1/2 cm in thickness.
- Use a 2 inch cookie cutter to cut out cookies.
- Use a spatula or knife to transfer the cookie disks to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in the middle wrack for 12 minutes. Once baked, allow to cool completely.
- To assemble, fill half of the cookies with dulce de leche.
- Sandwich with the other half.
My Top Tips!
Making your own Dulce De Leche is easy!
In this recipe I Show you how to make your own dulce de leche but you can absolutely just use store bought. If you do make your own dulce de leche, make sure you remove the labels from the cans before doing anything with them.
Making them ahead of time!
You can make these up to a week in advance.
Other Recipes You Might Like!
-
Raspberry Linzer Cookies
-
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
-
Lofthouse Cookies
-
Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
-
Nutella Stuffed Cookies
Make sure to follow me on social media!
Instagram @thescranline, Facebook and watch and subscribe to my videos on YouTube!
I hope you guys enjoyed this simple but delicious recipe with me. Please comment in the comments section below, or feel free to share with your family and friends on social media.
I’ll see you all on the following recipe. Happy baking!
N x
Chocolate Alfajores Cookies
Serves 20
Ingredients
Dulce De Leche
- 2 (500 ml) cans sweetened condensed milk see notes
Cookies
- 3 cups (450 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder see notes
- 2/3 cup (90 g) cocoa powder
- 1 cup (250 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup (105 g) caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Learn How To Make it! [VIDEO]
Instructions
Dulce De Leche (stove top method)
- Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Make sure there is enough water to cover the cans when they are submerged.
- Carefully add the cans of sweetened condensed milk (labels removed) into the water. Cook for 2-3 hours depending on how dark you ant it to be. Be sure to keep an eye on water levels as they can drop. If they do, add more boiling water. If they get lower than the cans the dulce de leche can explode or burn. Allow to cool to room temperature once done. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 weeks!
Dulce De Leche (oven method)
- Preheat your oven to 175C / 350F. Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a baking dish and cover with foil. Place in a large deep baking dish and fill halfway with water. Place in the oven and bake for 3-4 hours, making sure to replenish the water as it evaporates. Take out of the oven every 3 hours and stir, covering back up and keeping an eye on water levels as you put it back in. Once finished, take out of the oven and allow to cool completely before using. Can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks!
Cookies
- Add the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl and use a whisk to combine.
- Add the butter and sugar to a separate large mixing bowl. Use an electric hand mixer to whip until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well each time.
- Add the dry ingredients and use a spatula to mix until a dough forms. Transfer to a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap up. Shape into a disc and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 175C / 350F. Dust your workbench with flour and unwrap the dough. Begin rolling out, pinching any cracks that may form back together. Roll out to 1/2 cm in thickness. Use a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Use a spatula or knife to transfer the cookie disks to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in the middle rack for 12 minutes. Once baked, allow to cool completely.
- To assemble, fill half of the cookies with dulce de leche and sandwich with the other half.
Notes
Nutrition
8 comments
Thank you for sharing the recipe. I plan to make these this weekend for my friend’s birthday. What can I use as filling instead of Dulce de Leche. I am not terribly fond of this stuff.
Hi Shaherose! So many different thing. Chocolate ganache would be yum! N x
Can I make dulce de leche by pour condensed milk into rice cooker and let it cook?
Hi ManSuk. Unfortunately I’ve never tried that so I’m not sure. Sorry!
Love the dessert videos
Thanks so much Dee! N x
Very nice! I like alfajores but love all chocolate twists so this was great. I don’t know if it’s because I used granulated instead of caster sugar but the cookies were even less sweet than I expected- I might add just an extra tablespoon next time. That said, with such a sweet filling, it’s great that the cookies are not too sweet. I also used leftover pistachio filling for a few and that was delicious!
Thanks so much Sarita! N x