If you haven’t tried Peruvian alfajores before you’re in for a treat!! These light and crispy cornstarch cookies with a homemade manjar blanco, aka dulce de leche filling, make a delightful treat that is perfect for the holidays or any time of the year.
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour20 minutesminutes
Refrigeration and Cooling 2 hourshours
Total Time 3 hourshours40 minutesminutes
Servings 30cookies
Calories 133kcal
Ingredients
Cookies
2cupsall purpose flourplus more for dusting worksurface
½cupcorn starch
¾cupunsalted buttercut into cubes and softened
½cuppowdered sugarplus more to dust cookies at the end
Empty the condensed milk into a stainless steel bowl that will fit down into your instant pot.
Stir in one teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon and cloves.
Place one cup of water into the Instant Pot and then insert the stainless steel bowl directly in the water.
Cover with lid and cook under pressure for 80 minutes and allow it to release the pressure naturally.
The color should be dark and the consistency similar to jello. Let cool for ten minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a blender. Blend until creamy and smooth. Transfer it to a container and place it in the refrigerator to cool.
Make the cookies
Sift the flour and cornstarch into a large bowl and whisk together.
In a separate bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, egg yolk and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and pale in color.
Add the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined with a wooden spoon and then your hands.
Form the mixture into a ball and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 325 about 15 minutes before ready to bake. Line a baking sheet tray with parchment paper.
Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Cut the dough in half and roll it out until it is about ⅛ inch thick. Use a 2 inch cookie cutter to cut the dough into rounds.
Transfer the cut cookies to the baking tray. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for about 16-20 minutes or until the tops are mosty firm on top and the edges are just beginning to brown.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble the cookies.
Spread the cookies with the manjar blanco and then place another cookie on top, creating a sandwich.
Dust the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar.
Notes
Make sure the manjar blanco has the consistency of thick caramel sauce after cooking. It should be a rich, medium brown with a thick texture. If not, cook it for longer. It will thicken up more as it cools down and especially after refrigeration.
The best way to add the manjar to make the cookie sandwich is with a pastry bag and tip. It saves tons of time and is less messy.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before assembling the cookies.
If possible, make the manjar in advance so it can spend at least one night in the refrigerator.
It’s ok to place the cookies fairly close together on the baking sheet because they don’t spread out much when cooking.