An original, easy, and delicious recipe for preparing Maicena Alfajores with dulce de leche filling and coconut covering, very traditional in Chile, ideal for sharing with family due to their delightful texture and flavor.
Contents
How to make Chilean Maicena Alfajores?
Preparing Maicena Alfajores is a quick and simple recipe for which we recommend measuring all the ingredients before starting to achieve the best results.
Nutritional Information
Category: Desserts
Cuisine: Chilean
Calories: 400
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Original Maicena Alfajores Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g of dulce de leche
- 300 g of cornstarch
- 250 g of butter
- 200 g of flour
- 150 g of sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of lemon zest
- ¼ cup of shredded coconut
Preparation
- In a large bowl, combine room-temperature butter and sugar, then whisk with a kitchen whisk until you obtain a smooth and creamy mixture.
- Add the egg yolks one by one, continuously whisking to integrate each one thoroughly. Add the lemon zest, stir to combine, and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F) for at least 10 minutes.
- Sift the flour and cornstarch over the butter and sugar mixture, add the baking powder, and mix until you have a firm and thick consistency. Knead with your hands for a few minutes until you obtain a consistent, thick, and lump-free dough.
- On a clean surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it reaches a thickness of ½ centimeter. Cut circles of 3 to 4 centimeters using a mold, glass, or similar tool, and place them on a lightly greased and floured baking tray.
- Place the dough circles in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 8 to 10 minutes until they are lightly golden on the bottom. Remove from the oven and let them cool.
- Take one dough circle with your fingertips and add dulce de leche to your liking with a knife, press to distribute, seal the edges with the tip of the knife, and form a sort of sandwich. Repeat the process to fill all the dough circles.
- Coat the edges of the Maicena Alfajores with shredded coconut and optionally sprinkle a little powdered sugar. Let them rest for at least 2 hours before serving or ideally consume them the next day.
Tips for making Maicena Alfajores
If possible, use a pastry bag when filling the alfajores to prevent the cookies from breaking since they are very delicate.
It may be advisable to soften the dulce de leche slightly with a splash of milk or even warm water to give it a slightly softer consistency that won’t break the cookies when assembling them.
Did you know?
Maicena is the starch, cornstarch, also called fine cornmeal, although the correct definition is cornstarch flour, as it is extracted from the endosperm of the grain.
