Today I am back with yet another delicious recipe from Argentina: Alfajores de Maicena. There are so many different kinds of alfajores (cookies) in Argentina that I had no idea existed before going there!
These were among my favourite. They are very simple and quite easy to make as well. I made mine with gluten-free flour and vegetable spread to be able to eat them too, however, below you can find the original recipe made with plain flour and butter as well as some tips on how to make this recipe gluten and lactose-free.
I also used my home-made Dulce de Leche, so even if you can’t find Dulce de Leche where you live, you can still make these delicious cookies.
But what is it that makes these alfajores so special? It’s all in the dough! They are made with a mix of plain flour and cornstarch (maicena in Spanish), which makes the cookies as light as a feather. They literally melt in your mouth when you eat them. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
These alfajores are not covered in chocolate, but they are rolled in coconut instead. They are also smaller than regular alfajores and I find them the perfect cookies to serve at teatime (even though they were served at breakfast too in all the hotels we stayed at! No complaints there!).
If you are curious about other Argentinian food, check out these other recipes on my site:
Enjoy and don’t forget to check out my video recipe. Also, leave a comment to let me know how you like it!
Alfajores de Maicena
Ingredients
- 150 gms – 1 ¼ cups cornstarch
- 100 gms – ¾ cup plain flour I used low fodmap and gluten-free
- 80 gms – 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 100 gms – ½ cup butter at room temperature I used vegetable spread
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Dulce de Leche to fill
- Fine desiccated coconut to roll in
Instructions
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In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract until fluffy.
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Add the egg yolks and beat until incorporated.
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Sift the cornstarch, plain flour, and baking powder into the bowl and gently fold it in with a spatula. Then knead by hand, and make into a ball.
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Roll it into a 0.5 cm (0.2 inches) thick sheet. Cut out rounds of about 5 cm (2 inches) in diameter and put them on a tray lined with baking paper.
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Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C – 355°F for 8 minutes. Then remove from the oven and let them cool down for 2 minutes before removing them from the tray and transferring them to a wire rack to cool down completely.
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When cold, pipe some Dulce de Leche on half of the cookies and use the other half to make cookie sandwiches. Roll in fine desiccated coconut and serve.
Recipe Notes
To make prettier looking alafajores, you would need to use Dulce de Leche Repostero, which is thicker than regular Dulce de Leche. This way, your Dulce de Leche will be more stable and it will not look as messy as mine. To make Dulce de Leche Repostero, you can add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved into 4 tablespoons of milk to your Dulce de Leche when you make it (towards the end of the cooking process).
Don’t forget to pin this recipe!
Alright, as an Argentine, I think my opinion is pretty legit. These are a-MA-zing. I’ve made them multiple times and they’ve not failed once. Everyone loves them.