Contents
Two cornstarch shortbread discs sandwiched with dulce de leche and rolled in coconut. The name is Arabic — al-hasú, the filled one — and the cookie travelled from al-Andalus to Spain and then to the Southern Cone, where Argentina and Peru made it a national object rather than a Christmas one.
What makes the Rioplatense version distinct is the starch. Up to half the flour is cornstarch, which has no protein at all, and the resulting biscuit dissolves rather than crumbles.
What makes it work
- Cornstarch is doing the work, not the butter. At a 1 : 1 ratio with flour the dough has almost no gluten to develop, so it cannot go tough — but it also has no strength, so the discs must be thick enough to lift.
- Sift the starch twice. It lumps, and a lump bakes into a chalky spot.
- Bake at a low temperature and stop before colour. These want 165 °C, not the usual 175. A browned alfajor tastes of nothing but toast.
- Dulce de leche must be the thick, pastry-grade kind (repostero). Loose caramel sauce squeezes out of the sandwich and softens the discs to paste within hours.
- Chill the assembled cookie for an hour, then roll the exposed filling in desiccated coconut so it sticks in a clean band.
Ingredients
Makes about 20 sandwiches.
- 200 g cornstarch
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 5 g baking powder
- 2 g baking soda
- 150 g unsalted butter, softened
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp brandy or pisco
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla — see Pure vanilla extract
- 400 g thick dulce de leche
- 100 g desiccated coconut
Method
Sift the cornstarch, flour, baking powder and soda together twice.
Cream the butter and sugar three minutes, add the yolks one at a time, then the brandy, zest and vanilla. Fold in the dry mixture. The dough is soft and sticky; wrap and chill it for an hour.
Roll to 8 mm between two sheets of parchment — this dough tears if you flour the bench and work it directly — and cut 4 cm rounds. Bake 165 °C / 325 °F for 10–12 minutes. They should stay pale, puff slightly, and look matte.
Cool completely. Pipe or spoon about 15 g of dulce de leche onto half the discs, top with the rest, and press gently until the filling reaches the edge. Chill an hour, then roll the rim through coconut.
Notes
- Make your own dulce de leche by simmering a tin of sweetened condensed milk fully submerged in water for three hours, or by baking the contents covered in a bain-marie at 200 °C for 90 minutes, whisking smooth at the end. A tin boiled dry explodes; keep it under water the whole time.
- The Peruvian version skips the coconut and dusts the top with powdered sugar.
- They improve overnight. Moisture equalises between filling and biscuit and the texture goes from sandy to melting. Best on day two, good for five days.
Elsewhere on the site
Method and theory: Cookie recipes · cookies · Cornstarch
Nearby: digestive biscuits · thumbprint cookies · maamoul