Eat Eat and More Eat

I just noticed that this post was never published...sorry for the old news.

Thanks to all the bakers and to Kelli the cookie contest was really cute. Tough competition! We are gearing up for the soup swap we have our team ready and am looking forward to it. We have already tested a few recipes. The Husband keeps talking about the butternut sausage soup from a few Thanksgivings ago, might have to revisit that one.

I also made some Limoncello and it is resting quietly in the cupboard. And for our final holiday act Rachael and I made these cookies. They were amazing, we highly recommended it. We made ours into starts, they were so cute and very tasty!


Alfajores de Dulce de Leche (Caramel Sandwich Cookies)


Prep and Cook Time: about 1 1/2 hours, plus about 30 minutes to freeze. Notes: Dulce de leche, a thick, rich caramel made with sweetened milk, is sold in Mexican markets and some well-stocked supermarkets. If it's unavailable, use a thick caramel sauce or caramel ice cream topping.


1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
3 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
About 1 3/4 cups dulce de leche or caramel sauce (see notes)
About 1 cup sweetened flaked dried coconut or unsweetened shredded dried coconut

1. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg yolks, whole egg, rum, and vanilla and beat until well blended.

2. In another bowl, mix 2 cups flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Stir or beat into butter mixture until well blended. Divide dough in half. Flatten each portion into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

3. Unwrap dough. On a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll one disk at a time to about 1/8 inch thick. With a floured 2- to 3-inch round cutter, cut out cookies. Place about 1 inch apart on buttered or cooking parchment-lined 12- by 15-inch baking sheets. Gather excess dough into a ball, reroll, and cut out remaining cookies.

4. Bake in a 350° oven until cookie edges are golden, about 10 minutes; if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking. Let the cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then use a wide spatula to transfer them to racks to cool completely.

5. Turn half the cookies bottom side up and spread each with about 1 tablespoon dulce de leche. Top with remaining cookies, bottom side down. Place coconut in a shallow bowl. Gently squeeze each sandwich until filling begins to show at the edges, then roll edges in coconut.

Nutritional analysis is per sandwich cookie.