1.02.2009
dulce de leche cookies
Just look at that sweet little filling, just barely peeking out of the middle, acting so very innocent. I'm sure your mother told you that looks can be deceiving, don't you know. Because soon these cookies cause everyone in their path to swoon, and lust after every single bite. I still find this especially impressive for a cookie that maybe doesn't even look like much. I mean really, it doesn't even have chocolate. Gasp, I know.
When my friend Joel introduced me to these cookies, I though, nah they can't really be that good. Was I ever wrong, thankfully oh so wrong...remembering that everything Joel makes is absurdly and wickedly good. Like over the top, lick your fingers in public, good. I vividly remember every bite of every single tasty morsel that I have ever tasted of Joel's cooking. Really these delightful cookies should be renamed Joel's Peruvian cookies. Or at least that is what my family has fondly come to name them, referring to Joel's heritage, and the cookies too.
Joel and I used to galavant about Toronto, constantly trying to find the most tempting palces to eat and then we would gleefully celebrate every single morsel, as if it was our last. I was living in perhaps the most dilapidated apartment imaginable, consisting of a sad cold narrow hallway in which only one appliance could be plugged in or the whole world would come to a crashing halt. A toaster oven for an oven. I suppose that could be fine, if it wasn't also a basement apartment with a screaming baby above my head, a shortage of hot water, a stove that was a hotplate, oh and if it wasn't a long and very cold winter.
I was in music school, and Joel was in between his music studies, and living with his folks. Joel's parents used to be so excited when I called, they assumed I was his girlfriend. Joel and I would giggle when his Dad would excitedly answer the phone, since a girl was calling and all. Except, that Joel couldn't be less interested, in girls that is...then a few minutes later we would erupt into beyond-giddy laughter, absolutely howling, at this predicament. I suppose it didn't help that we both also spent the summer together at the Aspen Music Festival and School. We studied music, but we were mostly obsessed with the next thing to eat.
I have to tell you that Joel has this phenomenal gift of being able to walk into a kitchen, and literally know where everything is within seconds. So of course, he's known to everyone as a fabulous host, even in the homes of complete strangers. Joel never ceases to amaze, you can't help but immediately take a liking to Joel, and he has this uncanny ability to be asked to cater parties on a whim, or to house sit in the most fabulous homes, him being so likable and all. Luckily for me, he'd bring me along, and we'd cook and cook and cook, just adding ridiculous amounts of butter as we went, and here and there I'd pick up a few of Joel's secrets.
At one of Joel's infamous gatherings; I arrived quite early. I just couldn't wait, who could stand the suspense? Soon, I was watching Joel meticulously sandwich these delicate little cookies together with ease, and I was just barely able to maintain my enthusiasm over these most perfect bites.
Somehow, I guess he thought it would be a good idea to let me lick the spoon. Hah! If he only knew what a monster he just created. ummm....a sweet monster, but one that would run away with the pot and never stop until it's all gone. And no one could lay blame for it being so very clean. Okay, I didn't run off with it, but it I snagged the recipe instead.
Joel calls this dulce de leche, but it isn't just condensed milk. It is thinned out a bit, and then sweetened(!) with a cinnamon stick.
Perhaps this recipe should come with a warning label: it might be wise to make the filling with supervision. Preferably in the presence of someone who might think lesser of you, or at least disciplined enough NOT to join in, if the filling is devoured right before their eyes, when it is supposed to be destined for the cookies. Patience my friend, if you manage it just right, then it usually works out that there is a nice helping left to top some ice cream. That is, of course, if fights don't break out first...
Dulce de Leche Cookies
For the cookies:
1 cup flour
1 cup cornstach
1 ¾ sticks of unsalted butter, chilled
6 tbsp icing sugar
2 pinches of salt
For the filling:
1 small can evaporated milk (160mL)
1 can condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cinnamon stick (3-4 inches)
For the cookies:
1. Start by mixing the ingredients with a food-processor. Then remove and begin to work the dough (crumbs at this point) by hand. At first, it will seem that a dough will never appear. Be patient, and the pieces will come together. Although, do work quickly so that the butter does not melt.
2. Roll the dough very thin, 1/4cm or so, using extra flour as needed. Cut the dough into thin rounds with a 1.25 inch cutter - a shot glass rim works well. Carefully place the cookies on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12-15 minutes, until just starting to have a slight golden appearance. Let them cool.
For the filling:
1. Heat all the ingredients in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, on medium/low for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally in the beginning and then constantly towards the end. Caution - it will burn! It will become thicker as it cools.
Sandwich two of the rounds together with the filling - while the filling is still quite warm. Use a small spoon to add the filling to one cookie. Let cool a few seconds, and then place another cookie on the top. Apply slight pressure until the filling is visible from the side. Although the goal is to get as much filling as possible without it going over the edge!
To serve, these look especially pretty when arranged on a plate, and dusted with icing sugar.
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36 comments:
Lovely photos, beautiful commentary and yummy recipe - a most excellent post!
great post and so cute! I would be just like you! I am such a sweet monger...and never realized it until I actually started blogging and saw how many posts were baked goods!
I'm a dulce de leche lover, so I'm already sold on these cookies; and I'm glad that you ended up liking them too!! :-)
lovely pictures, they have a dreamy nature :D
Gorgeous and irresistible. I'm not much of a baker but these cooking are begging to be made (and eaten).
These look adorable!
What a great post!! Those cookies look fantastic!
Gail, these remind me of my visit to Uruguay earlier this year, where they're called "alfajors." If you're interested, here's a link to my post about Lapataia, a farm that makes amazing farmstead dulce de leche from milk produced right there. http://www.rustickitchen.com/blog/?p=138
My fiance just relocated from there and I'll have to make these with the Lapataia dulce de leche he brought with him!
These look so delicious, and so cute!
These look delicious and are egg-free, which means I can share them with my nephew.
I'm thinking your blog should come with a warning label, and this recipe is proof!
I could use a good friend like Joel - these cookies look fantastic! :-)
The cookies look wonderful. I am a baker at heart and have never tried to make these but I think I will give them a try soon!!!!
These look completely amazing - I'm looking forward to a chance to make them.
Great post and photographs: Makes producing a sandwich cookie look doable. I need to try these with a good strong Assam!
Oh yummy! I love the pictures, it looks so delicious.
I am loving how this looks--a must try for this week!
http://savorthethyme.blogspot.com/
These cookies look so delicous. Lovely pictures as well.
Ohmigod, I HAVE to try this. I think I'm moving this up on my list of things to bake. I love dulce de leche (I made it with brownies once) and I love the idea of adding cinnamon. Genius!
Can't wait to try it out!
those look so so very good!
Your pictures look just as heavenly as the cookies description. If you have the time and inclination, you can make a few extra pennies contributing your photos to istockphoto.com Your photos are as lovely as your writing.
I made these last night!
http://shibooya.com/2009/01/07/what-was-i-saying-about-healthy-sweets/
They are amazing! So delicious, sweet and delicate little cookies! It's so hard to stop at one! Thanks for the recipe!
How sweet. They look perfect with a cup of tea.
Yumm. These look so very good.
um, yum! I'm bookmarking this recipe!
I imagine these with black caramel or blackcurrant tea... oh yumm
Excellent use of the word galavant!
Thank-you for the recipe. We just got back from Baja and I was eating dulce de leche out of the can, fantasizing about just such a cookie.
Hi Gail!
Something is waiting here for you!
Everything about this post made me smile. Your friend sounds like one of those "big souls" you have the pleasure of meeting only a few times in your life.
And I think I'll make these very soon. As long as someone else is around to eat most of them.
These cookies look wonderful!! I love just about everything with sweetened condensed milk, so I can't wait to try these!
Love Dulce de Leche! Totally, where I come from we call those cookies Alfajores. Very popular and very rich, everyone loves them. Great posts!
Lovely pictures! And they look really delicious!
Thank you so much for sharing the secret of your friend, Joel. Great pictures and sweet language you have. I must try this recipe. I don't know what you mean with condensed milk, we don't have it here, in Turkey. Can I use cream instead? If the result is good enough, maybe I'll share it here and in my website. (of course giving my thanks to you)
My father is a huge fan of dulce de leche cookies and I always try to bake one for him whenever we see my parents. He has yet to be fully blown away by any of the recipes i've tried. Simplicity is key, and yours looks perfect! Can't wait to try it. thank you for shearing your post.
I just read this, and Gayle my love, you made me cry. :)
Now I feel like a moron since I misspelled your name :)
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