Happy Tuesday! It’s been so hot here in California that makes me not want to bake at all but yesterday I was craving some alfajores and I made these with a tiny bit of a twist. I added mini chocolate chips and let me tell you that it was the best idea that I could have to make my alfajores better. The chocolate chips are very good with the dulce de leche!

Let’s start with the recipe and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @Pastry_Tales because I just posted the videos of how I made these delicious cookies.

Yield about 12-15 regular size sandwich cookies

Ingredients

For the cookies

1 cup cornstarch

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon  salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

⅓ cup granulated sugar

2 large egg yolks room temperature

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 mini chocolate chips

For the filling

1 cup dulce de leche

For decorating

Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together cornstarch, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter for 2 minutes. Then, add sugar and cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes)
3. Add in the egg yolks, one by one mixing well after each addition. Add in vanilla extract and mix until everything is well combined.
4. Reduce speed to low and gradually add in dry mixture. Mix well until you don’t see any leftover dry ingredient. Add in mini chocolate chips, mix.
5. Turn dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape into a smooth disk, and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Unwrap dough and roll it out on the top of a floured surface.  Roll to ¼-inch thick. Using a round cookie cutter (or any other shape you want, I chose a star shape cookie cutter) cut the cookies and place them on prepared cookie sheets. The dough can be a bit hard to work with, have patience, it might crumble so just put it together with your hand and roll again.
8. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are golden and centers are set.
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before assembling.
10. To assemble: Turn one half of the cookies upside down and spread with a thick layer of dulce de leche. Place remaining cookies on top of the dulce de leche to create a sandwich. Sprinkle just the half side of cookies with powdered sugar.
11. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. These cookies can last for a couple of days.

Enjoy!