As I’ve told you before, last Purim I’ve played the cookie game, on an Israeli food forum I’m a member of. There are many talented members on that forum, but one  of the most talented among them is Sivan, the girl who sent me the cookies on that game. The cookies were so great, that they barely lasted a week, and we’re talking lots of cookies here.

One of the cookies we loved most in that package were these alfajores, maybe the best I’ve ever eaten. Avi says I’m declaring that too often about food, but in this case, he definitely agreed with me.

For a few months now, a good friend I work with, told me about her cookie fobia. “No cookies I ever make turn out well”, she used to tell me. So a few weeks ago I invited her over for a cookie baking evening, to get rid of her fobia. And we made these awesome alfajores! The recipe was very accurate, as all Sivan’s recipes, and it allowed us to reach the same great cookies as the ones she sent me.

Do you also have a cookie or other pastry fobia? First of all, try these cookies. They are real easy to make and to get great results with. And second, remember that many times the reason of a failed dish is a not accurate enough recipe, or one that is lacking important information, and there’s also the reason of not following the recipe closely enough. The pastry world, as you probably know, requires a great deal of accuracy. So go ahead, give your fobia subject one more try, this time with a recipe from a reliable source, and try to follow it exactly as it’s written.

Some notes and tips about these cookies:

* This recipe calls for a mixer. Don’t have one? No worries, you can also do it manually. Use cold butter instead of softened one, and cut it into cubes. Place all the ingredients except the egg yolks and vanilla extract in a bowl, and crumble the mixture by rubbing it in your palms. The final mixture should be crumbly, and resemble to couscous crumbles, only a bit bigger. Then add in the yolks and the vanilla extract, and knead it only until a uniform dough is created.

* The secret of a good short crust is processing it as little as you can since the flour comes in contact with liquids, so make sure you pay attention to it.

* Not that much into dulce de leche? You can fill these cookies also with Nutella or with a chocolate spread or halva spread, and even with dates spread.

* If the spread you chose is too firm to work with, warm it for several seconds in the microwave.

Alfajores / Sivan
For about 25 alfajores

Ingredients:
150 gr butter, soft
100 gr powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
150 gr cornstarch
150 gr flour
5 gr baking powder
4 egg yolks

For filling and rolling:
A jar of dulce de leche
Coconut flakes

Directions:
1. Cream butter and powdered sugar in the mixer (no mixer? see tips), add in the yolks one be one and then the vanilla extract.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch, flour and baing powder, and add them into the butter mixture. Process only until a dough is formed, and not longer than that. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
4. Roll the dough 0.5 cm thick, and cut cookies out of it using a glass or cookie cutters.
5. Bake for about 10 mins, or until the cookies just begin to change their color, but are still relatively light.
6. Pipe (or use teaspoonfulls) dulce de leche on top of one cookie, close it with a “clean” cookie and squeeze a bit, for the filling to show a little, so that it will easily stick to the coconut. Roll the cookies in coconut flakes.

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