This Alfajores (Peruvian Style) recipe are a classic South American cookie. Silky smooth manjar blanco (dulce de leche) is sandwiched in between two melt-in-your mouth short bread cookies. Roll the edges in powdered sugar in the style of Peru.
Alfajores de Maicena. If you’re unfamiliar consist of a shortbread cookie sandwich filled with dulce de leche (Peruvians call it manjar blanco) in the center. The cookies are melt-in-your mouth and the dulce de leche is creamy with a hint of cinnamon–so good!
These cookies have some flour, corn starch and powdered sugar (which obviously has corn starch in it). And added egg yolk gives it a nice richness (though, it’s not necessary) and since I was feeling fancy, I used some vanilla paste, which I use incredibly sparingly since it’s so expensive (but has recently gone down in price). If you don’t have it, skip it!
Manjar Blanco or Dulce de Leche?
The biggest difference between Alfajores (Peruvian-Style) and alfajores cookies from other parts of South America is that we don’t call it dulce de leche, we use the term manjar blanco. West of the Andes mountains, the term manjar blanco is used; east of the Andes mountains, the term dulce de leche is used. In Colombia they use the name “arequipa.”
What Does Alfajores Mean?
While “alfajores” doesn’t have a direct translation, many believe that “alfajor” is derived from the Arabic word “al-hasu” which means “filled.” This would make sense considering alfajores are indeed filled!
Where Are They Originally From?
While Alfajores are popular in South America, they are from Spain with origins in Middle East. Story has it that the Moors brought the Alfajor over during its rule over Spain which spanned close to 800 years.
Alfajores Vary From Country to Country in Latin America
I took to IG stories last week to ask about alfajores from different countries in Latin America/South America and this is what I found out! (Honestly this was so interesting to me.):
- Argentina – In Argentina alfajores are typically made with all corn starch and the sides are rolled in shredded coconut.
- Chile – It varies depending on the part of Chile, but some of the cookies are a bit thicker and there are times when nuts and meringue are folded into the mix. Meringue honestly sounds super delicious. Some people dunk the entire cookie in chocolate–yum!
- Bolivia – In Bolivia, the alfajores are a cross between Argentinan alfajores and Peruvian alfajores. They are mixed with all-purpose flour and rolled in coconut.
What Are Alfajores (Peruvian Style) Made Of?
The basic ingredients consist of flour, cornstarch, powdered sugar, salt, butter, vanilla and an egg yolk. They also include the manjor blanco or dulce de leche. The butter and sugar are beaten together until light and fluffy. And then the flour mixture is added. After those two things are combined, the dough is wrapped in plastic wrap and transferred to the fridge.I like to roll out the dough to about a 1/4-inch thickness and then stamp out cookies. They make a trip to the oven and then placed on a rack to cool completely before being assembled.
A Short Cut for Dulce de Leche/ Manjar Blanco is A-OK!
This recipe below offers some short cuts. The brand La Lechera sells dulce de leche already in the can. I offer an option of adding a pinch of cinnamon and cloves to these and mixing it in. This is a super quick and easy shortcut and guess what: they’re still amazing.I also offer a recipe to make the dulce de leche/manjar blanco from scratch. It’s delicious so choose whatever filling best suits your mood and time limits.When I was in Peru a couple months ago, we went to a few more modern bakeries and they had various sizes, different flavors and it made me super excited to make new twists on this classic.But first, you gotta start with the basics! So here she is in all her glory: Alfajores (Peruvian Style).
How to Make Alfajores (Peruvian Style)
- Make the manjar blanco. Whichever avenue you choose (there are two options below!), they’ll both be delicious. I really enjoy the method in the oven because it’s super easy.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. In this recipe, we have all-purpose flour, corn starch, powdered sugar and kosher salt.
- Beat the butter and vanilla extract/paste. I love emulsifying the fat with the extract; it really takes on the flavor.
- Add the egg yolk (optiona). The egg yolks gives a lovely richness to this cookie dough. If you don’t have it, skip it!
- Pour in the dry ingredient mixture and combine.
- Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill. This dough will be SUPER soft so it needs to chill in the fridge.
- Roll out the dough. Flour your rolling pin and surface and stamp out the cookies.
- Bake the cookies! Until super blond. You don’t want them to be lightly golden brown or medium golden brown. To achieve that melt-in-your mouth quality, you need to bake them until set.
- Fill them with the manjar blanco/dulce de leche.
- Roll the sides in powdered sugar.
AND THEN EAT THEM!
If you make these Alfajores, let me know on Instagram!
Looking for more recipes to make? Here are some favorites of mine:
Video for Alfajores
Alfajores Recipe
Ingredients
Manjar-Blanco Short Cut:
- 1 (14-ounce) can store bought dulce de leche
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch kosher salt
Manjar Blanco Version Two:
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
- Pinch kosher salt
Vanilla Shortbread Cookie:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup corn starch sifted
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 teaspons vanilla extract or vanilla paste (optional)
- 1 large egg yolk (optional)
Assembly:
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
To Make the Manjar Blanco Short Cut:
- To a medium bowl, add the store-bought dulce de leche, along with the cinnamon and salt. Mix until smooth and completely combined. Set aside.
To Make the Manjar Blanco Short Cut #2:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grab a small baking dish, a piece of foil and another larger baking dish that the smaller baking dish fits in.
- Pour the sweetened condensed milk into the smaller baking dish and cover it with foil. Place the smaller baking dish in the larger baking dish and fill half way with water. We're going to be creating a water bath for the sweetened condensed milk to cook in. Transfer to the oven to bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. You may need to re-fill it at the 45 minute mark since the water can evaporate.
- Remove it from the oven and allow it to stand for about 15 minutes. This will cool it down so it's easier to handle.
- Remove the foil from the baking dish and remove it from the water bath. Discard the cinnamon stick and pour the dulce de leche/manjar blanco into a glass or stainless steel bowl. Whisk it until it's smooth. This happens pretty quickly.
- You can do this the day before if you like. This stays good in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks. To temper the dulce de leche, transfer the container (with it's lid on and all) to a bowl with warm water. This will allow the dulce de leche to become smooth since the cold temperature from the fridge stiffens it quite a bit.
To Make the Cookies:
- To the medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, sifted corn starch, powdered sugar and salt. Set aside.
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer (you can also use a medium bowl and an electric hand-mixer), add the butter and vanilla paste or extract. Beat until smooth. Next, add the egg yolk and mix just until incorporated.
- Add all of the flour mixture and slowly mix it together (being sure not to go too quickly or else the flour will fly out of the bowl), until combined, about 1 minute.
- Scoop the dough out of the bowl and form it into a ball. Place it in the center of a sheet of plastic wrap and press it into about a 2-inch round. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to chill for about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- When it’s done resting, in the fridge, transfer the dough to the center of a sheet of parchment. Place a sheet of parchment on top and roll it out slowly. (If it’s too cold, let it come closer to room temperature, about 10 minutes.) Roll it out until it’s about 1/2 to 1/4-inch thick.
- Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, stamp out cookies, having them as close to each other as possible. Transfer the cookies (I found it easiest to use an offset spatula to pick up the cookies) to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about 2-inches apart. Transfer to the fridge to chill for about 10 minutes. Repeat until you work your way through all of the dough. I rerolled the dough about 2 more times.
- Score the tops of the cookies with a tines of a fork. Transfer to the oven to bake for about 11 to 13 minutes, until the cookies are a bit firm to the touch but have zero color on the edges. These cookies are baked just until set. Allow to cool on the baking sheets until room temperature.
To Assemble the Alfajores:
- When the cookies have cooled, flip half of the cookies on their opposite side. Transfer the manjar blanco to a piping bag with a piping tip attached (this part is optional). Pipe a round of manjar blanco on all of the cookies facing their opposite sides.
- Alternatively, you could also spoon the manjar blanco onto each of the cookies and smooth it out (gently because the cookies are delicate) using a butter knife.
- Top each of the cookies with another cookies and lightly press it down. Roll the sides in the sifted powdered sugar. Store in an air-tight container or bag for up to 3 to 5 days.
Notes
- The dough needs to be refrigerated for about an hour or up to 3 days. It works much better when the moisture is evenly distributed throughout (what resting in the fridge does).
- You can use store-bought dulce de leche. It might be kinda lumpy straight out of the jar and/or can so be sure to whisk it until it’s smooth.
- Different cookie cutters: You can make mini alfajores by using a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter. For a larger size, use a 3-inch cookie cutter.
- These are best stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
- The manjar blanco/dulce de leche can be made up to 3 days in advance and kept in an airtight container in the fridge.
- To temper manjar blanco, allow to come to room temperature for 2 hours. OR, you can place the container (sealed) in a bowl of warm water to temper.
I rarely leave comments on cookies, but these are absolutely wonderful! My boyfriend says they are his favorite cookies I’ve ever made- the texture is excellent. My sweetened condensed milk also was a little light and runny after the expected time- but a bit more time in the oven (~30 minutes), with stirring, did the trick!
These reminded me of the alfajores I ate while living in Peru. I love the touch of cinnamon in the dulce de leche to give it a non store bought taste!
I made them and they are delicious! Question: can I freeze them for a few weeks?
hi susy! so good to hear that you love them. i’m actually not sure–sorry!
Question? I made the manjar blanco and cooked for 1 hr and 15 min as the recipe mentioned. However, I think it probably should have gone longer? It was still quite white (not sure if that is the way it was supposed to be blanco?) and runny. The flavor is great, but too runny. Can I put it back in the oven and cook some more to get it to a darker color?
Sometimes brand of condensed milk is the problem. Check ingredients, good condensed mill should only have milk and sugar. If it has palm oil or something similar, that could be the reason it wouldn’t thicken, get caramel colour, etc
Made these for Christmas 2020. They turned out very good. I cooked the manjar blanco for 1 hour and 30 minutes in the oven and that made it a deep caramel colour and a good consistency for piping. The dough was sticky sometimes but the key for me was to stick it back in the fridge to firm up. Also having a cookie sheet that was cold from the fridge helped me too. I wish I had a bigger piping tip for the manjar but otherwise this recipe is a winner.
I just made the manjar blanco shortcut and the bread came out really sticky to the taste. Is that supposed to happen? I just stuck it back in the oven for another ten minutes. First time making these. 🙂
are you referring to the cookie dough?
Ok , not sure where I went wrong. My manjar Blanco #2 came out extremely pale and runny, just slid right off the cookie. What did I do wrong ??
it needed more time in the oven! next time just let it cook until it’s medium golden brown. this time will vary because of the container you’re using.
You haven’t mentioned what to do with the cinnamon quill when making your own manjar blanco? You mention taking it out in step 4, so I assume you just stick it in the condensed milk before you put it in the oven?
I used to be married to a Colombian, and his family called it manjar blanco also. When his mother came from Colombia to visit (and stay with us up to 3-4 months) she always brought me manjar blanco, either in a tin can or a wooden box. Wow did I love that stuff! Will have to make the alfajores.
Thank you for sharing such wonderful recipes. Peruvian and African American girl here from Queens. I am so excited to try all of them!
aww love to hear it! thanks for being here, sulema! 🙂
I am gluten intolerant so I substituted 1-1 gluten free flour and I think that was a fatal mistake. My cookies did not bake, they basically turned into a mush. It’s a shame, this recipe looks great but I probably won’t make it again because it doesn’t translate well to become gluten free.
ahh bummer that it doesn’t work with gluten-free floud 🙁
Ok, so I realized I messed up and forgot to add the confectioners sugar lol. I remade it and it worked out great!
wow this is a resilient cookie then lol!
This is my go to recipe for alfajores 🙂 These are just like my grandma’s that she used to make us in Peru. I’ve made your recipe loads of times and I can’t recommend it enough to friends!!
awww i love this!
They turned out so well! Just wish I would’ve made more so they could’ve filled the jar. I made it with the store bought dolce de leche and was pretty great. Also, the dough didn’t look like it was forming at first, like it was just crumbly, but I just kept beating it and it formed a dough. Great recipe!
I am Peruvian Argentine (Peruvian father, Argentine mother , born in Argentina, raised in Peru) and I lived in Colombia for four years. In Colombia the “manjar blanco” is called “arequipe” not Arequipa. Arequipa is a department and capital city of the same department (state) in Peru.
I am glad that you called it “manjar blanco”, I feel bad when people know the name given by the country that put it in the international market first. I also get infuriated when I see “quinua”, the real name of the staple written “quinoa”. Just because the Americans make it popular in the world. Quinua was used by the indigenous people in Peru since the time of the Tawantinsuyo ( Inca Empire). I will try your recipe of “alfajores”.
I love these cookies and have made them for so many friends. I’ve used canned dulce de leche and also made my own a couple times. But it usually always comes out a little on the thin side. Do you have any tips for thickening?