If you never tried alfajores before, these will blow your recipe file. Why? Because they are made with walnut cookies and filled with dulce de leche! A great combination of flavors. Soft and sweet, they are fantastic and loved by everyone.
I hail from Argentina, where dulce de leche was first invented and where the consumption of alfajores is off the charts, starting with the chocolate alfajores, the most popular ones. And I mean that literally: 6M (that's six million!) alfajores are eaten every single day here! Every day.
Anyway, there is such an immense variety of alfajores in this country that I probably don't know half of them.
What are alfajores?
An alfajor (singular) is a sandwich made of two dough discs with a filling in between. They are very popular in South America, especially Argentina (where I'm from), Perú and Uruguay.
The most traditional ones are two: one made with cornstarch shortbread cookies with coconut on the sides, and the other made with vanilla dough and covered with dark chocolate. Both are filled with dulce de leche, of course.
How to make walnut alfajores
So, for the sake of this post, let's stay close to our alfajores here, a recipe that uses the much-loved chocolate chip cookie as a base for the nut cookies, without the chips.
I added only walnuts to the cookie dough, formed it into cylinders, wrapped them, and let them park in the fridge for two days before baking them.
The flavor is amazing. The nuts get toasty, and the cookie dough has that caramel undertone we all love.
- Make walnut cookie dough.
- Freeze in a cylinder. These favor a rounder cookie, but you can make them the way you usually make chocolate chip cookies.
- Cut the cookies half an inch and arrange them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake them. Let cool completely.
- Fill them with dulce de leche.
- Eat them and wait to feel amazed at the flavor!
So what you see as an innocent walnut cookie turns into this mind-blowing alfajor (or sandwich cookie) that will completely change you. Trust me.
Starting to fill everything with dulce de leche is a one-way trip.
Case in point: dulce de leche swirl brownies (they get raves every single time!), the simple, everyday vanilla layer cake, and the most amazing banana muffin cake, to name a few.
What is dulce de leche?
Dulce de leche is a sweet jam made with milk, sugar, and baking soda, the latter being responsible for its dark color. The flavor is very sweet, similar to caramel, but not quite. It does have a milk undertone, something that caramel lacks, and some might say it's not as sophisticated, and they might be right.
Commercial dulce de leche: the best one available to use for fillings right now is Vacalin dulce de leche repostero, which is the one we use here, so I recommend it.
There are two ways of sandwiching the dulce de leche filling:
Spoon: This is my favorite way because it means taking a tablespoon of dulce de leche and arranging it in the middle of one cookie. When you press down with the second one, it flattens out a bit, and you get your alfajor. The result is rustic and not picture-perfect. Which is fine since these are meant to be eaten at home.
Piping bag: You can pipe the dulce de leche. This is a great way of filling these alfajores if you sell them or want to give them out as gifts. It is more time and labor-intensive, though not complicated.
Kitchen notes
- Organization: Read the recipe first and ensure you have the ingredients at the right temperatures, the equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier!
- Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. Use a thermometer inside the oven (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that the temperature is right. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Cookies: they are better if baked barely soft. Not underbaked. But a softer cookie is better because when you bite the alfajor, the cookies are not hard, and the dulce de leche doesn't ooze out before you can take a bite.
- Dulce de leche: There are two common types of dulce de leche, regular and pastry. If using it as a filling, use the latter, which is thicker. I always use dulce de leche repostero Vacalin, which you can buy online.
- Keeping: they can be kept in tins or airtight containers, but if they are already filled, they will soften as the days go by. I find this a plus, but if you don't, you can keep the cookies alone in a tin and fill them when ready to eat.
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Easy Walnut Alfajores Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
- pastry dulce de leche, for filling (see Notes below)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat ½ cup unsalted butter, softened, with ¾ cup light brown sugar and ¼ cup granulated sugar. Add 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and mix very well.
- Add sifted dry ingredients (1 ½ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt) in 2 additions and mix to combine well.
- Add 1 cup walnuts, chopped, and stir to incorporate.
- Have prepared a piece of plastic wrap. Place half of the cookie dough along the long side of the plastic. Taking one long side, wrap it over the cookie dough and roll the plastic to cover tightly and produce a cylinder.
- Prick with a fork and let the trapped air out. That way, the plastic will stick to the dough. Roll lightly to make the cylinder as round as possible.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough. Refrigerate both cylinders for several hours, until firm enough to cut, or freeze them for up to a month.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Take out cookie cylinders from the freezer and wait 5-10 minutes until they can be cut with a sharp kitchen knife.
- They don't have to be soft or they will loose the shape.
- Cut rounds about ½ inch thick and place on prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden but barely soft. Let cool completely on wire rack and fill.
- Take heaped spoonfuls of pastry dulce de leche and place on the flat side of one cookie. Cover with another cookie and press lightly to spread the dulce de leche.
Notes
Dulce de leche: There are two common types of dulce de leche, regular and pastry. The latter is better for filling alfajores because it holds better as it's thicker. It should have the word 'repostero'.
Keeping: they can be kept in tins or airtight containers, but if they are already filled, they will soften as the days go by. I find this to be a plus, but if you don't, you can keep the cookies alone in a tin and fill them when ready to eat. Filling the cookies: there are two ways of sandwiching the dulce de leche filling:
Spoon: This is my favorite way because it means taking a tablespoon of dulce de leche and arranging it in the middle of one cookie. When you press down with the second one, it flattens out a bit, and you get your alfajor. The result is rustic and not picture-perfect, which is fine since these are meant to be eaten at home.
Piping bag: You can pipe the dulce de leche. This is a great way of filling these alfajores if you sell them or want to give them out as gifts. It is more time and labor-intensive, though not complicated.
Inge Kohl says
Any chance you'll be offering a metric version of this recipe? I feel more confident using exact weight measurements and I noticed you had them on the other Alfajores recipe versions.
Thanks
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Inge, yes, I added the toggle button for both types of measurements. Happy baking!
Cathy says
This is an awesome cookie! Thanks for the recipe!
Paula Montenegro says
Happy to know you liked them Cathy! Have a great end of the year.
Daniela says
Loveee eating lots of alfajores when I go to Argentina! And never had them with walnuts! Sounds so delicious :).
Sara says
Gorgeous! These look like a perfect cookie for Santa. Totally adding Walnut Alfajores to my baking list! I know no one else will bring these to the cookie exchange!
GUNJAN C Dudani says
Beautiful images and delicious recipe. Totally worth making this holiday.
Nicole says
These are beautiful and the perfect cookie for baby and bridal showers. I love these cookies.
Carrie | Clean Eating Kitchen says
I've never had a alfajore before, but they sound so yummy! that filling is to die for!
Kelly Anthony says
Not sure why I have never heard or had a alfajores before. I'm sad I've been missing out on such a decadent treat for so long!
Aleta says
I can't believe so many cookies are eaten in Argentina and yet I have never even heard of them! They look so incredibly tasty, I can completely understand why they are so popular.. I can't wait to try them for myself!
Elaine Benoit says
I haven't had alfajores in forever! I'm so glad I found your delicious and easy recipe! I can not WAIT to make these.
Denise says
I never had alfajores before, and they look delicious! Walnuts and caramel are a delicious combination. .
Nicoletta De Angelis Nardelli says
6 million a day! After seeing these beautiful alfajores I can easily see why. They look scrumptious and your instructions are easy to follow. Will make some soon!
Chef Dennis says
Yum! This Easy Walnut Alfajores Recipe looks super delicious! I really love having Alfajores and your recipe is perfect. I will definitely try this!
Juliana says
Alfajores is the best thing in the world! Let's spread the word!!!!