Alfajores Cookies

It is often said that Israel the country is like a huge melting pot of people from all over the world. Not only have they brought their different cultures, opinions and sense of style, but (most important!) they have also brought their food.

Alfajores cookies

And the funny thing is, that it is the food that everyone else willing to taste and make part of the national table. The locals may think that you dress funny and pray too different but if a new immigrant brings a tasty meat soup from Yemen or an interesting eggplant and egg sandwich from Iraq, it soons become part of the Israeli food scene. And when everyone else is eating your food, you yourself is also finally considered as an Israeli 🙂

The Alfajores cookie illustrates this just as deliciously as the cookie itself tastes. This short-bread type of sandwich cookie, filled with caramel and rolled in coconut is often found in bakeries and coffee shops here in Israel. I was enchanted with these staple “Israeli” cookies and often treated myself to one. It was only later that I learned that the alfajores cookies came with the Argentinian immigrantes to Israel.

They take a bit of an effort to make, thought not THAT much, but they look and taste amazing and are diffenitely worth the effort.

Alfajores Cookies

• 100 gram of soft butter
• 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest
• 150 gram of cornflour
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 cup of caramel or dulce de leche
• 50 gram of shredded coconut

1. Mix the butter and sugar in a mixer and then add the egg and continue to mix well.
2. Add the lemon zest, cornflour, flour and baking powder and mix until the dough is smooth.
3. Cover the dough in cling film and set aside for one hour in the fridge.
4. Heat the oven to a 170 degress Celsius, 338 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Divide the dough into three parts, take one part and roll out to about a half a centimeter on a floured surface.
6. Use a round cookie cutter or an upturned cup and cut out the shapes in the rolled out dough.
7. Place the dough shapes on baking sheets and bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
8. Do the same for the rest of the dough and wait until the cookies have cooled of nicely.
9. Spread a bit of the caramel between two cookies and also on the outer rim of the two cookies.
10. Roll the cookie in coconut and there you it – a delicious Alfajores cookie.

Serve with coffee or a pot of tea and remember to save some for your guests!