Ingredients

• 300 g cornstarch (maicena)
• 200 g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 200 g unsalted butter
• 150 g caster sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp cognac or brandy
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 lemon
• 450 g dulce de leche repostero
• 60 g finely grated desiccated coconut

Method

1. 01
   Cream butter and sugar In a large bowl, beat the soft butter with the sugar until pale and creamy, about three minutes.
2. 02
   Add yolks and flavourings Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then mix in the cognac, the vanilla and the lemon zest until smooth.
3. 03
   Fold in dry ingredients Sift the cornstarch, flour, baking powder and baking soda over the butter mixture and fold it in with a spatula, then press gently with your hands until it just comes together into a soft dough.
4. 04
   Chill the dough Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it, and chill it in the fridge for thirty minutes.
5. 05
   Heat the oven Heat the oven to one hundred eighty degrees Celsius and line two baking trays with baking paper.
6. 06
   Roll and cut Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about half a centimetre thick and cut rounds about five centimetres across, rerolling the scraps gently, then lay them on the trays a little apart.
7. 07
   Bake the cookies Bake one tray at a time for ten to twelve minutes, until the cookies are set and dry on top but still pale, with only the bottoms barely golden. Repeat with the second tray.
8. 08
   Cool completely Leave the cookies to cool on the trays until completely cold, about fifteen minutes, before moving them.
9. 09
   Fill with dulce de leche Spread a generous teaspoon of dulce de leche on the flat side of half the cookies and press a second cookie on top, twisting gently so the filling reaches the edges.
10. 10
    Roll in coconut Roll the edges of each sandwich in the grated coconut so it sticks to the dulce de leche all the way around.
11. 11
    Let them set Leave the alfajores to rest for at least thirty minutes so the filling firms and the cookies soften slightly before serving.