Cornstarch alfajores. Argentine recipe

How to make cornstarch alfajores.

The alfajor is one of the recipes for desserts or sweets present in the gastronomy of several Latin American countries. Although Argentina, thanks to its foreign marketing campaign, is known as the cradle of alfajores in the rest of the world.

In reality they are just as traditional within the gastronomic recipes of countries such as Uruguay, Mexico, the Dominican Republic or Chile.

It has been taken as true that Spanish American alfajores have their origin in Spain, thanks to the culture of Arab roots of our peninsula, and that they come from the Arabic voice Alaju , which means filling.

Today I bring you the recipe of the traditional Argentine alfajores , the alfajores de cornstarch . Although depending on the Latin American country we are in, they will be one way or another.

The ingredients of the wafers and the filling can vary, from fruit and honey creams to ginger and dulce de leche for the fillings of these alfajores or some friar balls , or different tubers for the cookie doughs.

Traditionally the most popular are the alfajores filled with dulce de leche and battered in grated coconut. I have seen a different filling in Argentina, but the dulce de leche wins by a thrashing at home, also its origin and history is exciting. We wrote about it a little while ago.

Its preparation is simple and the result is different and delicious, perfect to enjoy with a good coffee or, better yet, in a plaza in the Recoleta neighborhood in Buenos Aires, accompanied by a warm mate.

Preparation of the alfajores dough

1. In a bowl we sift the two types of flour, wheat and corn with yeast and salt. We reserve.
2. In a bowl, and with the help of a fork, mix the butter and sugar well.
3. It is essential that the butter is at room temperature. It has to have a pomade texture to be able to work it and that the sugar is ground or is sugar glass, so that the granites are not noticed at the end of the process. Mix well until we have a cream.
4. We wash the lemon well (dry) and grate without reaching the white part. Add the bowl with the vanilla essence. Add the egg yolk. Then a whole egg and half of another once beaten. Incorporate the butter with the fork or some rods.
5. We add the flour and mix well with the fork, or the tips of the fingers until we have a homogeneous and very soft dough. It is not necessary to knead, it is simply a matter of mixing all the ingredients well.
6. We place the dough, wrapped in transparent paper, in the refrigerator or fridge for 20 minutes.

Alfajores shape

1. Once the process of cooling and compacting the dough has passed. Sprinkle a work surface with plenty of flour.
2. We are going to have to sprinkle with enough quantity since the dough will remain quite soft. If we don’t have a well-floured surface, it would stick to the base.
3. We place part of our dough on the work surface. With a floured rolling pin, stretch until it is half a centimeter thick.
4. With a cutter or a shot glass, we make the portions of the alfajores. I have used a cutter of about 5 or 6 cm. diameter.

Baking the alfajores and final presentation

1. We preheat the oven to 155º C with heat up and down and without a fan.
2. We place the alfajores on a baking sheet on baking paper, being very careful not to distort them.
3. Bake for 7 or 8 minutes at 155º C and remove to a rack until they have completely cooled.
4. The alfajores must be very white. So we should not wait for them to begin to brown inside the oven. With those 7 or 8 minutes it will be enough.
5. It is essential to control the baking time to get juicy alfajores. Since they could be pasty and dry if we bake them too much, a few minutes will suffice.

We can enjoy these sweets like in Argentina and Uruguay.  Enjoy them at any time of the day and with any excuse.

You can see all the photos of the step by step recipe of Alfajores de Maicena , follow all the steps and they will be perfect.

Tips for some delicious cornstarch alfajores

• The cornstarch alfajor has the peculiarity that it uses corn flour in a high percentage combined with wheat flour.
• I could make alfajores out of cornmeal exclusively but that would produce crackled and excessively dry and brittle cookies.
• When adding the egg to the dough, it seems messy, but it is to add the exact amount of egg, we would have to use 3 eggs, but in reality we are only going to use the weight of 2.
• When we knead and shape, it is necessary for the alfajor dough to acquire a certain consistency in order to work it. That is why the cold time that I recommend in the recipe is essential.
• Once the tapas of our alfajores are cold, we fill with a tablespoon of dulce de leche.   Finally (optionally) we coat the sides with grated coconut to taste.