Traditional Argentine Cookies - Alfajores
Vegan Alfajores
To be a mom of teenagers is a lot of work, overall to be a mom means you have a mountain of things to worry abut for the rest of your life so there is not one single day that goes by admiring my mom for being so brave and let us fly so far from her to see us grow in all the ways you can possibly imagine, but what I admire the most is the audacity to keep us, for the most part, out of the bad influences, thoughts and parties (well the last one had no way around), from being our chofer to the conservatory and then swim training/matches she also managed to paint some ceramics with me while watching a cooking channel so I can learn something new while my hands were also learning something new HA! So at least now you know where my baking classes come from.
It’s been a few years since I made these Argentine delicacies, I still remember the first time I saw it on tv, (mom and I) we never have even tried it before, i was a cooking channel called El Gourmet were the showcase latin pastry Chefs and this time were two Argentine Dolli y Gross and we got even more interested once we heard it had dulce de leche (arequipe or cajeta) as a filling, which used to be about my favorite things to dip a banana in.
These little sandwiches are about the best little sins one can eat with a cuppa tea or disregard the tea and follow my bad habits of eating one every time we pass by them (bad bad Melissa); regardless, these cornstarch cookies in vegan style is something no one will notice aside from the filling which has a different texture than dulce de leche but it is so satisfying so I am overly happy to share this new recipe that brings memories to my heart.
Argentinian Alfajores
Vegan
Makes: 12 sandwiches
Prep time:
Cook time:
- 2 ½ cup cornstarch
- 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp powdered sugar*
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 3/4 cup+ 1 Tbsp soft coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp rum
- 3 Tbsp flax gel**
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 tsp lemon zest FILLING
- 6 soaked dates
- 1/4 cup coconut fat***
- 1/4 cup pecans, soaked overnight
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 Tbsp slivered roasted almonds and then finely chopped
- Preheat oven at 370F; prepare a sheet with parchment paper and sift all your dry ingredients
- In an electric mixer beat the coconut oil and sugar on medium speed for approximately 5 minutes until very creamy; then add flax gel and apple sauce and let mix for a couple more minutes, finally add the extract and aromatics (rum and zest)
- Gradually add your dry ingredients and mix until is all combined, turn out to a floured surface and massage/form an oval (the dough should allow you to easily leave a thumb print without falling apart as pictured); roll out to a 1” thickness and let rest in the fridge for 10-15 minutes max
- For the filling set everything but the almonds in a blender and blend until no clumps, it won’t be a butter like paste but more like overly thick sauce and set aside
- Meanwhile,Time to cut your cookies, preferably with a 2” diameter cookie cutter or max a 3”, the bigger the disk the dryer your cookies will be so keep it at 2” so they are moist and perfectly soft. Bake between 9-10 minutes and keep an eye on them by minute 8, you don’t want them to crack since that is a sign of over baked and they’ll be too dry
- Once out of the oven, immediately transfer to a cooling rack and let completely cool. Spread a little of the filling, sprinkle some almonds and close with another cookie (tip: I give the “closing” cookie a tiny smear of filling so the sandwich sticks nicely)
*I pulverized my organic granulated sugar but you can also buy it ready.
**To make the flax gel you simply need to soak overnight 2 tbsp of flax seeds in 1/2 cup of water; the next morning drain and reserve the very viscose gel from it which resembles exactly an egg white. You can images on how to make this gel in my Rhubarb Ginger Tart
***Full cat canned coconut milk, do not shake the can and simply scoop all the fat from the top.
