My husband, Marco, is an Argentine and from him and his family, I learn a lot about Argentine delicious and unique pastries, and one of my favorites are these classic Argentine alfajores. They're the best and the most light cookies, sandwiched together with thick caramelly dulce de leche.
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I say classic because these are also called cornstarch alfajores cookies since they are several types of alfajores. Some are coated in dark chocolate, white chocolate, or even meringue. But hey, classic always has a soft spot in my heart *wink!*.
Another classic is Marco's Argentine chimichurri recipe, which can be used as a marinade or a condiment. It's so versatile and delicious!
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Recipe Highlights
Texture and flavor - Soft crumbly melt-in-your-mouth cookies with a touch of lemon, similar to our Argentine thumbprint cookies with jam, sandwiched together with creamy dulce de leche and coated with desiccated coconut.
Size - 24 cookies (sandwiched).
Level - Easy but plan ahead. They taste better the next day.
Occasion - Oh anytime! Perfect to wow your guests and loved ones since these cookies are unique!
Lets Talk Ingredients
Cornstarch - A must as these are cornstarch cookies, to begin with. It's what creates the melt-in-your-mouth texture. I even use it in my amazing light and tender homemade crepes!
Butter - I use unsalted in all my bakings and add salt only if needed, which in this case, I don't.
Dulce de leche - Use baker's dulce de leche as it's firmer and holds better as the filling. If you don't have it, you can try making it yourself with my homemade dulce de leche recipe.
Powdered sugar - Makes the cookies softer and more delicate, which is what we're going for. Granulated sugar will result in a crunchier texture.
Tips To Perfect Alfajores
Everything that I know about making perfect alfajores is thanks to Marco and his parents. The experience of learning to make Argentine cookies from the Argentine themselves is really beyond measure.
I'm sharing with you all the tips so that you also can make these cookies with success and stress-free!
Plan ahead - The cookies taste better the next day as the flavors have time to blend. Make them 1 day ahead before serving, if you can.
Butter - Let it soften, which means that it's softer than room-temperature butter. When you poke into it, it shouldn't have any resistance at all. Although, you shouldn't let it be until it's starting to melt.
Less is more - Don't overwork the dough at any time in this recipe as we don't want to create any gluten (gluten = hard cookies). You won't be able to mix the dough well until the end using a handheld whisk (or any machine), so switch to using your hands. You'd think the dough will never come together, too much flour, but trust me, it will.
Use the palm of your hand and push the dough gently, bring everything back together, and repeat. The heat from your palm will help blend the butter into the dough.
Chill - Chill the dough in the fridge until it's manageable to handle. 30 minutes work for me but depending on the coldness of your fridge, you might need less or longer time.
Right thickness - Cut out the dough around 8-10 mm. Too thin will risk the cookies breaking apart, and too thick will result in humungous sandwiched cookies.
Don't overbake - These cookies are supposed to be pale white, with no brown or toasted look, at all, not on top nor the bottom of the cookies. So make sure to get the temperature right. I use a portable thermometer in all my baking and never have to guess if my oven is too hot or cold.
Bakers' dulce de leche - Use it because it's firmer and holds up better compared to the normal one.
Fill it right - Pipe dulce de leche the same thickness as the cookies. It'll look better and the ratio is just perfect.
More Dulce de Leche Recipes
- Dulce de leche cones
- Coconut & dulce de leche tart
- Ricotta pie with dulce de leche
- Churros filled with dulce de leche
Watch How To Make It
📖 Recipe
Classic Argentine Alfajores
Video
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ½ cup (300 g) corn starch , use spoon and level method
- 1 ½ cup (200 g) all purpose flour , use spoon and level method
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
Wet Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup (150 g) icing sugar , sifted
- 7 oz (200 g) unsalted butter , soften
- 3 large egg yolks , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 medium sized lemon
Filling
- bakery dulce de leche , as needed
Instructions
Dry Ingredients
- Sift everything into a bowl, set aside.
Wet Ingredients
- In another bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter until creamy using a handheld whisk. Add in egg yolk one by one, mixing well to combine after each addition. Add in vanilla extract, lemon zest and mix to combine.
- Add in dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing just enough after each addition. Don't over mix. For the 3rd addition, you will not be able to mix everything to combine using hand held mixer. When it's half mixed, pour everything onto the working surface.
- Start folding the mixture onto itself and gently push with your palm until you get a ball. Do not knead. Refer to tutorial video above for better understanding.
- Wrap with cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or until manageable.
Shape & Bake
- Put ⅓ of dough on a cling film and cover it with another. Gently roll it into 8-10mm thickness. If the dough breaks, just gently push it back together. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes while you continue rolling the rest.
- Take 1 rolled dough from the fridge and place it on the working surface. Remove the top cling film. Cut out 1.7 inch (4.5 cm) circles using floured cutter/glass. Place on parchment paper on baking tray. Place in the fridge if you're not baking them immediately.
- Bake at 360F (180ºC) in a preheated oven, conventional mode, on middle rack for 10-12 minutes or until fully cooked without having any toasted colour. Cool completely before using.
Assemble
- Pipe dulce de leche on the bottom side of a cookie, more or less the same thickness of the cookie itself. Take another cookie and place it on top and lightly press. Roll in desiccated coconut. Enjoy!
How To Store
- Place in air tight container, at room temperature. Best consumed the next day. Last good for 1 week at room temperature, 2 weeks in the fridge.
Notes
- Make sure to use softened butter.
- Don't over work the dough at any time, have patience, pressing and pushing it gently with your palm will bring everything together.
- Always keep the dough/cut out circles chill in the fridge when you're not working with them.
- Use bakers' dulce de leche, not the normal one.
- Use portable oven thermometer to get the accurate temperature (I use it in all my bakings).
Originally published on Oct 25, 2017. Updated with improved text, recipe and pictures on Jul 7, 2021.
Jess says
Hey! Great recipe, do you think I could make one giant one like a cake? Or is the dough too difficult to so that.
Many thanks,
Jess
Bea & Marco says
Hi Jess! So happy you liked the recipe. We haven’t tried making it as one big cookie, but to be honest, we think it might not turn out quite as well—the cookie is super soft and might break or bake unevenly. That said, if you do try it, we’d love to hear how it goes! 💛
Joan says
Great recipe! I found it came out very crumbly the first time around, but I added 1/4 C of heavy cream and it was great.
Question for the dough, how far ahead can we make it, if we want to make several batches? Thanks!
Bea & Marco says
Thanks, Joan! We're glad that it turned out great for you. Although we haven't tried making the dough in advance as we've always bake it straight away, we'd say it can be made up to 3 days earlier. Hope it helps!
Patricia says
I made this receipe for the very first time, but the dough came out very crumble and dry. I measured everything very well and followed the instructions. What could I have done wrong?
Bea & Marco says
Sorry to hear that you're having problems with the recipe, Patricia. Did you use cup measurements or Metric? Use the spoon and level method for cup measurements to avoid using excessive flour, which will lead to the dough being dry. Also, make sure the butter is at the correct temperature and you knead the dough with your hands as shown in the video. At first it seems that it'll not come together but after a few minutes, it will (the heat from your hands will help incorporate the butter into the flour perfectly). Hope you'd give it another try!
Jessica says
When you say this recipe yields 24 servings, do you mean 24 cut cookies or sandwiched cookies?
Bea & Marco says
Hi Jessica, it's 24 sandwiched cookies, 48 cut cookies.
Anna says
Hi - trying this recipe - confused about how much flour as it says 1 1/2 gr (200g) - is this grams? Or 1 1/2 cup?
Bea & Marco says
Hi Anna! I've updated the recipe ingredients, it's 1 1/2 cup (200g). Hope it helps and thanks for the heads up!
Gabi says
“Use baker’s dulce de leche, not the normal one” Can you clarify? I can’t find any differentiation between the two with a google search. Should I cook the dulce de leche for longer so its consistency is thicker? Thanks!
Bea & Marco says
Hi Gabi! If you're making your own dulce de leche, then yes, cook it longer so that the consistency is very thick. If it's loose, it won't hold the biscuits properly and you can't use it much. Hope it helps!
Liliane says
I had several recipes of alfajores to try, this one was my first try, and I’ll stop here! Simply delicious, it was perfect! My friends just loved it! Funny because I used the orange zest ( like it said on the video), even though it wasn’t the right one it tasted so good, friends loved the slight orange taste in it! Next time I’ll use lemon, I guess you can’t go wrong with it! Thanks for sharing, it was delicious!
Bea says
Oh that's great! I'm glad that you and your friends liked it anyways Liliane! Hope you'll like it too with lemon next time. Thank you for your feedback!
Liliane says
Hi! I just love alfajores, thanks for sharing this recipe. I have a question, on the video it says zest of a medium lemon, on the written recipe it says zest if a medium orange. Which one is right?
Bea says
Hi Liliane! Sorry for the typo, it's supposed to be lemon, just like in the video. I've corrected it, thanks for pointing it out!
Khaled Bais says
I made it, but it isn't like the video, it isn't was soft and crumble.
Kimberley Y Flavia says
AMAZING! My girlfriend, who is from Argentina, and I tried this recipe this week. We both love it. And believe me when it comes down to Alfajores and Dulce de Leche, she is really picky. We made the Dulce de Leche ourselves by boiling a can of condensed milk.
Next week we are going to try to make your pionono recipe!
Bea says
That's great! Yes, you can never argue about alfajores and dulce de leche with an Argentine (I know because my husband is Argentine too, haha!). I'm glad you both liked it, and have fun with the pionono! Thank you!
Sonia says
I love this recipe. Today I'm making for the second time just for me. The first time, I had promised to take to work and I kept only a few in my house. Now I'm making it again just for us. Thanks for sharing.
Bea says
That's awesome, I'm happy that everybody liked them! Yes, make extra batch 😀 Thank you Sonia!
Abigail says
Made this twice now and they are way better than the alfajores I’m eating here in Mendoza. 😜 They are “melt in your mouth”. I just now omit the lemon zest because I personally don’t believe that the citrus flavour belongs there but other than that, super delicious. Thank you 😋
Bea & Marco says
Your comment makes us happy, Abigail! Thanks for giving the recipe a go. Sorry for the late reply, as we've recently moved house and are still figuring things out!
DEYSI CHACON says
I use 3 eggs for half of this recipe, and they come out delicious. You think adding 6 is too much if I make this recipe with 6? It just makes the doughy more manageable.
Bea says
Hi! I haven't tried it with 6 yolks but if you liked how it turned out with 3, then why not right? 🙂
Sebastian Stepper says
Bien
Bea says
Muchas gracias!
Sonia says
It was my first time making alfajores. I'm from Brazil and although alfajores are not Brazilian food, it's easier to find there than in America. I was a little nervous about it, but it came out perfect. The cookies come out very soft and you have to be very careful when pressing the two cookies after filling the bottom with dulce de leche. If not handled carefully, it will break. It will still taste great, but it's better looking not broken in the surface. I wouldn't change a thing. It was nice watching the movie, so I processed the dough without kneading. Going to make them again, definitely! Gracias for sharing!
Bea says
Yes, you're right. It's easier to find it here in Spain also (thank God!). I'm so happy to know that you loved it. I'm not that much into sweet but I LOVE alfajores 😀 . Thank you so much Sonia!
Evelyne says
I just made these from your recipe. WOW. The cookies are so delicate mixed this way ( consistency was perfect for me it stuck) and I even made the dulce de leche as you say for 3 hours in the can. I have had these cookies before but these are better. I resisted and had only one, will wait till tomorrow.
El Mundo Eats says
Hi Evelyne! Wow you also made the dulce de leche from scratch? That's awesome! Yes, homemade cookies are better, right? I'm so happy to know that you like them. My husband and his family are Argentine so I learnt the tips and tricks to make these lovely cookies from them. Enjoy your alfajores and thank you Evelyne! 🙂
Mai Le says
Hi there,
I had trouble getting the dough to stick together, I found the ratio of flour to butter and egg really difficult to manage. So I added a couple of tablespoons of water... hopefully they still taste good.
El Mundo Eats says
Hi Mai Le! Sorry to hear that you had trouble working with the dough. One question, did you work it with your hands at the point like I did in the video? That's important because the heat from your hands will soften the butter and help the dough to come together. Also keep in mind this is not like a bread dough, it is a crumbly type of dough. Anyways, I don't think the water will affect the taste, hope you enjoy them!