These dulce de leche cookies are a tender, buttery, melt in your mouth cookies filled with dulce de leche and dusted with powdered sugar. The dulce de leche filling tastes like a rich, creamy, milky caramel. They’re an easy cookie to make that will make a great addition to your holiday cookie collection.
This recipe is inspired by alfajores - a traditional Argentinian sandwich cookie filled with dulce de leche. The edges are optionally rolled in shredded coconut or sprinkles.
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✨ Why you'll LOVE this recipe:
- Texture: They just melt in your mouth. So buttery, crisp, and tender.
- Dulce de leche: The creamy, gooey caramel filling is mouthwatering.
- Impressive: They look so fancy and are perfect for your holiday table! All while an easy recipe.
📝 Key ingredients
These cookies consist of a buttery, shortbread-like cookie and a dulce de leche filling. They're commonly known as Alfajores.
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
- Dulce de leche: Use a thick store-bought dulce de leche or make it at home! This is a key ingredient for making alfajores. Keep reading for everything you'll need to know about dulce de leche.
- Egg yolks: The cookies only need the yolks to give them a rich and buttery texture. There's too much water content inside egg whites so you can save them for a different recipe or just add them to your morning scrambled eggs. Collect enough egg whites and make this raspberry meringue pie.
- All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
- Butter: Use a good quality real butter for the best results and flavour. If you use salted butter, omit the salt in the cookie dough.
- Cornstarch: This is key to creating a tender, crisp, buttery crumb! You can substitute it with the same amount of arrowroot starch or rice flour.
For a buttercream frosted cookie recipe, check out these thick sugar cookies.
👩🍳 How to make dulce de leche cookies
Step 1: In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy.
Step 2: Add egg yolks one at a time, beating in between and scraping down the sides to incorporate. Add vanilla and beat again.
Step 3: Sift flour, cornstarch, and baking powder right into the same bowl. Fold just until a dough forms.
Step 4: Form the dough into a disc and wrap with plastic or beeswax wrap. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes and up to two days.
Step 5: Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ⅛” thick. Cut out 2 ½” diameter circles, re-rolling the scraps as needed.
Step 6: Cut out small (¾”) circles in the middles of half the cookies. Chill cut cookies in freezer for 5 minutes before baking.
Step 7: Arrange the cookies with holes on a tray and dust with powdered sugar. Arrange the rest of the cookies on a separate tray, bottom sides up.
Step 8: Spread or pipe a thick layer of dulce de leche onto the bottoms of the whole cookies. Gently top with the cookies covered in powdered sugar.
🕰️ Make Ahead and Storage
The filled cookies are best served the same day they are filled. They will keep well stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. They will become a little softer the longer they are stored.
They will keep well unfilled in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
You can make the alfajores cookie dough and store it wrapped tightly for up to 24 hours, or frozen for up to 2 months. These peppermint shortbread cookies also keep well in the freezer.
❔ What is dulce de leche?
Dulce de leche is sweetened condensed milk that has been heated low and slow for a long time until thick, creamy, and golden brown. It makes a super creamy, milky, caramel spread that is perfect for spreading onto anything (try it on toast!) or filling dessert.
You can use dulce de leche instead of salted caramel sauce in these caramel apple bars, and instead of butterscotch in this butterscotch cake.
✔️ Where to buy dulce de leche
Lately, I’ve been able to find it at my local grocery store right by the sweetened condensed milk (baking aisle) or beside the ice cream topping section. It comes in cans or glass jars.
Conveniently, you can also purchase dulce de leche online.
Do NOT buy sweetened condensed milk flavoured as dulce de leche - it isn’t the same! Eagle brand dulce de leche is a brand that I would avoid for this, it’s too thin and doesn’t taste like authentic dulce de leche. Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk is great if you want to use it to make dulce de leche.
If you do end up buying dulce de leche and it's too thin to fill cookies, simmer it down in a saucepan on medium-low heat (stir constantly to prevent burning) until spreadable consistency.
✔️ How to make dulce de leche at home
You are essentially caramelizing sweetened condensed milk. Here’s a great article on how you can make dulce de leche at home!
Here’s a crockpot dulce de leche recipe that is so convenient! It has all the tips on how long to cook for the desired consistency and flavour.
Try these mango cupcakes for a dessert using sweetened condensed milk if you don't want to go through the effort of making dulce de leche.
TIP: If you’re boiling an unopened can, make sure you don’t use a can with a tab on it for easy opening. It needs to be a regular can (open with a can opener) or it might explode and hurt you. This is from personal experience.
📖 Recipe FAQs
Cornstarch makes tender cookies that are light and crisp in texture. You only need a little bit to get the full effect! Corn starch doesn’t have gluten so it really lightens up the texture
Use the same amount of arrowroot starch or rice flour in this recipe.
If you want to use all purpose flour, use double the amount of flour as cornstarch in this recipe. It calls for 3 tablespoons of cornstarch so use 6 tablespoons of flour. The texture won’t be as light and crisp but it will still work out!
Use a scale to measure the flour properly to get the right cookie dough consistency. I like to freeze my cut out cookies for 5 minutes before baking to prevent any spreading and keep the edges crisp. It helps to resolidify the butter so that it doesn’t melt as quickly in the oven. The ingredient proportions and cornstarch in this recipe also help prevent spreading.
The filled cookies are best served the same day they are filled. They will keep well stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. They will become a little softer the longer they are stored.
They will keep well unfilled in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
🍪 More cookie recipes
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📖 Recipe
Dulce de Leche Cookies [Alfajores]
Equipment
- 3"-4" round cookie cutter or glass
- small round cookie cutter optional
Ingredients
Cookies
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ⅛ cups all purpose flour (260g)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Assembly
- 1 can or jar dulce de leche
- ¼ cup powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
Cookies
- Beat butter, powdered sugar, and salt until light and fluffy.¾ cup unsalted butter, 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Add egg yolks one at a time, beating in between and scraping down the sides to incorporate. Add vanilla and beat again.2 large egg yolks, 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Sift flour, cornstarch, and baking powder into the same bowl. Fold just until a dough forms.2 ⅛ cups all purpose flour, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Form the dough into a disc and wrap with plastic or beeswax wrap. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes or up to two days
- Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ⅛” thick. Cut out 2 ½” diameter circles, rerolling the scraps as needed. Use a cookie cutter or the bottom of a glass.
- Cut small (¾”) holes in the middles of half the cookies. Place cut cookies in freezer for 5 minutes before baking.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are a very pale golden color. Transfer onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Assembly
- Arrange the cookies with cut out middles on a tray and dust with powdered sugar. Arrange the rest of the cookies on a separate tray, bottom sides up.¼ cup powdered sugar
- Spread a thick layer of dulce de leche onto the bottoms of the whole cookies. Carefully top them with the cookies covered in powdered sugar, and enjoy.1 can or jar dulce de leche
Emilia
This was a very easy recipe to make! As Chilean this brought me back to my childhood! Thank you!!
Mary
Thank you so much! I'm so happy you loved them and they brought you back 😀