Salted Alfajores Bars

I read, relaxed, worked a bit and of course baked. Oddly enough I may have mentioned that I am “dieting”, the dreaded “D Word” and I find that I actually bake more when I cannot or do not want eat the food. This weekend I baked a batch of of salted alfajores and the friends who were the recipients said they were scrumptious. 

For those who do not know what an alfajores is, it is like the Oreo’s of South America and it is a pair of sugar cookies with a layer of Dulce de leche in between. 

I visited Buenos Aries in December and I would not be exaggerating if I said I ate my weight in these cookies, in fact the only thing, other than a leather hand-bag. I brought home was 10 lbs of these cookies. In case you are wondering I did share a few but for the most part, I ate them all. Which explains why I am dieting!

The great thing about this recipe from MB from  Bourbon and Brown Sugar is that it is an all in one bar cookie, you still get the classic taste of a traditional alfajores cookie but with the ease of a bar cookie. 

Salted Alfajores Bars 

Recipe from  Bourbon and Brown Sugar

• 4 sticks (1 pound) salted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 16 ounce jar dulce de leche
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper.

In a the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugars, and beat until creamy. Then add the vanilla, and mix until combined. Add the flour into the butter mixture and mix on low speed until a smooth, soft dough forms.

 Press half the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust. Place the remaining dough aside in the refrigerator to chill until needed. 

Bake the bottom crust until firm and the edges are a golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

When the bottom crust is finished, let it rest for about five minutes. Microwave the dulce de leche for about 30 seconds so that it softens and is easy to spread. Spoon the dulce de leche onto the bottom crust, and spread it evenly. Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it over the dulce de leche layer. Sprinkle the sea salt evenly over the topping. Return the pan to the oven and bake it until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let it cool completely the with a sharp knife to cut the bars in squares and enjoy. 

I hope that you try these bars, I promise you that you will not be disappointed. If you try them, do let me know I want to know if you like them.

I hope that you have a fabulous week.