Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Sandwich Crème Cookies)

If you like Dulce de Leche and you like sugar cookies, then you'll LOVE this cookie! They are very simple to make but look super special. I got this recipe off of the Betty Crocker site. The can of Dulce de Leche might be hard to find. I found it in the Hispanic-foods section at our Wal-Mart. It comes in a can the same size as sweetened condensed milk and even looks a lot like it except it has been caramelized and is much thicker. In a few comments about the recipe, people said they make their own Dulce de Leche by doing the following: "Put an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk into a Pressure Pot with water covering the can, as soon as the Pressure valve whistles or moves, count 20 minutes, turn off the pot, let it cool, take your can out and enjoy." I haven't tried this myself. The original recipe has you roll the cookies in coconut but I didn't do this step. I also left out the powdered sugar step. You definitely want to make small cookies because they are very rich. I used a heart shaped cookie cutter that was a little less than 2 inches wide. I thought they were even better the next day after they'd been stored in an airtight container. The cookie was nice and soft. We didn't have any extras beyond the second day!

Alfajores

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup pecan halves, toasted, finely chopped
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 can (13.4 oz) dulce de leche (caramelized sweetened condensed milk)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, 1/2 cup of the coconut, the pecans, butter and egg until stiff dough forms.

3. On floured surface, roll half of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 2-inch round or fluted cookie cutter. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Repeat with remaining half of dough.

4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.

5. To make each sandwich cookie, spread about 2 teaspoons dulce de leche on bottom of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, bottom side down; gently press cookies together so some of filling seeps out around edges. Roll edges in remaining 1/2 cup coconut. Place cookies on cooling rack.

6. Sprinkle tops of sandwich cookies with powdered sugar. Store between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container.