Alfajores de Maicena (Argentinian Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies) 🍪

Zubereitung

1. 1

   Beat butter with the icing sugar until pale and fluffy, 3–4 minutes — this aeration is the entire structural engineering of a melt-away cookie. Add yolk and vanilla, beat smooth.

2. 2

   Whisk cornstarch, flour, baking powder and salt, then add to the butter in two goes and mix with your fingertips just until a soft dough holds. Stop the second it comes together; kneading builds gluten and gluten is what you are trying to avoid.

3. 3

   Roll between parchment to 6–7 mm — thicker than you think. Cut 4 cm rounds, re-rolling scraps gently. Chill cutouts 20 minutes so they keep their edges.

4. 4

   Bake at 170°C/340°F 10–12 minutes: set and pale, barely blonder at the rims. They harden as they cool; browned cookies are dry cookies.

5. 5

   Sandwich cooled pairs: spread a generous 1.5 tbsp dulce de leche on one flat side (beat the filling loose first so it spreads without tearing the crumbly cookie), press, dip or roll the edge in more dulce de leche and coconut if you want the ‘caprichosa’ version, then snow them under icing sugar just before serving.