If I started this project off with Germany, it only made sense to follow with Argentina: the runners-up of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
And the 2016 Copa America.
And the 2017 Copa America Centenario.
Don’t get me started.
Alfajores are popular throughout South America, and some trace its roots back to Spain. The traditional alfajor is thick and buttery with a dulce de leche filling sandwiched between two of them. I saw photos of alfajores coated in shredded coconut and some dusted with powdered sugar. The consistency of the dough is crumbly, but like Play-Doh or Kinetic Sand – squeeze it between your fingers, and it’ll easily stick together. As I used my circle cookie cutter on the dough, admiring how pretty the circles looked, I figured they’d lose their precise shape in the oven – but thanks to the insane amount of cornstarch in the recipe, they stayed perfectly intact!
One word of advice when making these cookies – make sure they are COMPLETELY cooled before you fill them. I used Nestle’s “La Lechera” dulce de leche, and it was a bit runny. Dulce de leche was dripping out of the sides of the cookies, and some of the top cookies in the sandwich slid off their base overnight. Don’t try to pipe the dulce de leche onto the cookies to feel cooler. I tried this, ended up piping WAY too much dulce de leche onto some cookies, and had a huge mess on my hands when I sandwiched them. I also used Nutella as a filling on some cookies in case my crowd preferred that more. The same rules apply to Nutella – don’t overdo it!
The recipe(s) I used for this cookie called for a teaspoon of lemon zest and it was so powerful. These tasted too much like a lemon cookie – something I wasn’t prepared for. If I ever make these again, I’m going to omit the lemon zest completely. I don’t see a need for it – especially if you’re using Nutella. Chocolate hazlenut and lemon? Odd.
I hope you enjoy these! Remember to let each of your ingredients fully incorporate as you mix the dough together – especially the egg yolks. And don’t be afraid to roll the edges in some shredded coconut!
La Selección de fútbol de Argentina. A very sensitive subject for me and one I’m constantly chastised about. Lionel Messi is a freaking miracle, and I’m convinced that Kacey Musgroves penned her song “Golden Hour” about him. He has carried this team to so many finals only to be disappointed by his squad of bottlers, but he’s the one who comes away with all of the backlash… all of the comparison to Diego Maradona, who won a World Cup with Argentina, and to Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the 2016 Euros with Portugal. Those guys HAVE major tournament titles; Messi does not. A World Cup title is all he needs.
After Argentina’s second-straight Copa America final loss, in penalty kicks (both times!!), to Chile (both times!!), an emotional Messi impulsively announced his retirement from the national team. He’d had enough. The Argentinian FA is messed up, to say the least. You can claim you’d stay strong and stick through your third-straight loss in the final of a major tournament, with as complicated of a relationship with the fans as Messi has with Argentina, but you wouldn’t after that. You’d wonder why you still try, too. Come on.
When he finally came back, he carried the team through World Cup qualifiers. He had to score a hat-trick in the final match just to sneak Argentina in with a last-minute qualification. So now they return to the FIFA World Cup to try again. This is his last chance; he’ll be too old to do this again in 2022. And even if he wasn’t, I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to give the national team the time of day any longer after this. Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli has said Messi has a “revolver held to his head called the World Cup.” I need a Prozac just thinking about it.
Other “notables,” I guess, on the team include forwards Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain. Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, who scored 22 goals for Juve in 2017-18, makes his first World Cup appearance for Argentina. He has 12 career caps with the national team so far, but has yet to score a goal. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero went down with an injury after the preliminary World Cup roster was announced and was officially ruled out this week. This is off to a great start.
Alfajores are Messi’s favorite cookie, and that’s why I was very adamant about learning to make them. That’s partially what sparked this whole project. Have you ever loved an athlete that much?
Makes: 12 sandwiches | Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
14 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 egg yolks, room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Dulce de leche or Nutella
Shredded coconut (optional)
Sift the cornstarch, flour, baking soda and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a bowl with a handheld or stand mixer, beat your softened butter and sugar together for 5 minutes.
With the mixer running, add the egg yolks into the butter and sugar mixture, one by one, letting each yolk incorporate well before adding the next.
With the mixer running, add the rum and vanilla extract. Mix well.
With the mixer running, slowly add in your dry ingredients. I poured in about ½ a cup at a time. Mix until a soft, crumbly dough forms.
Gently roll your dough between two sheets of parchment paper (flouring a surface and rolling pin makes the cookies taste too much like flour) until it is about ½ a centimeter thick all around.
Chill your dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
When your dough has chilled, remove it from the refrigerator. Take a 2.5” round cookie cutter and cut out circles. Place your dough circles an ungreased (or lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper) cookie sheet with about 2 inches of space between them.
Bake your cookies for 10 minutes – don’t let them get golden brown.
Let them cool completely (!!) on a wire rack.
Spread a good amount of dulce de leche on the bottom of one cookie, and sandwich it with another cookie. The bottoms of each cookie should be facing the filling.
If desired, roll the edges in shredded coconut so the dulce de leche filling is covered with coconut. Enjoy!
