Chilean Alfajores — Crispy Hojarasca Cookies Filled with Manjar (Dulce de Leche)

Instructions

1. 01

   

   Make the hojarasca dough

   In a large bowl mix the 2 cups (280 g) of flour with the pinch of salt. Make a well in the center and add the 3 egg yolks, the warm melted butter and the tablespoon of pisco or white vinegar. Bring it together with your fingers and add the warm milk one tablespoon at a time, 4 to 5 in all, until you get a smooth, firm dough that does not stick to your hands. Do not add all the milk at once: the dough should stay compact, not soft, or you will never be able to roll it thin.

2. 02

   

   Knead and rest

   Turn the dough onto a floured counter and knead it firmly for 8 to 10 minutes: it will feel stiff and uneven at first, then turn smooth and elastic. This kneading builds the structure that makes hojarasca crisp. Shape it into a ball, cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature so the gluten relaxes and the dough rolls out easily.

3. 03

   

   Roll it very thin and cut the discs

   Flour the counter and the rolling pin. Roll the dough as thin as you can, about 2 mm thick: you should almost see the counter through it. This is the most common mistake: if you leave the dough thick, the cookies come out hard like a biscuit instead of crisp. Cut 6 cm discs with a cutter or the rim of a glass and gather the scraps to reroll until the dough is used up. You will get about 40 discs to build 20 alfajores.

4. 04

   Prick each disc with a fork

   Place the discs on an ungreased baking sheet and prick each one several times with a fork. This step is not optional: the holes let the steam escape while baking. If you skip it, the hojarasca puffs up like a balloon and the cookies turn out hollow, domed and fragile, impossible to fill evenly.

5. 05

   

   Bake until just barely golden

   Bake in an oven preheated to 180 °C (350 °F) for 8 to 10 minutes, only until the edges take on a pale golden color. Hojarasca bakes very fast and goes from done to burnt in a minute, so watch it from the 7-minute mark. If your oven runs hot from below, move the tray to the middle rack so the centers cook through before the edges scorch.

6. 06

   

   Cool completely on a rack

   Transfer the cookies to a wire rack the moment they come out of the oven and let them cool completely, about 15 minutes. They come out soft and finish crisping as they cool, so do not handle them hot or they will crack. Do not fill them with manjar until they are fully cold, because the heat melts the filling and makes it run off the edges.

7. 07

   Fill in pairs with manjar

   Match the cookies by size. On one cookie of each pair spoon a generous tablespoon of thick, pastry-grade manjar and cap it with the other, pressing very gently so the filling reaches just to the edge without spilling. Use firm manjar, not a runny spreadable one, or the alfajores will ooze and you won't be able to stack them.

8. 08

   

   Finish with powdered sugar or chocolate

   For the classic version, dust the assembled alfajores with powdered sugar through a sieve. For the chocolate-dipped chilenitos version, melt the 150 g of chocolate over a water bath or in the microwave in 20-second bursts, dip each alfajor or brush the top and let them set on parchment until the chocolate hardens. Let the alfajores rest a few hours before serving: the manjar softens the hojarasca just slightly and they turn out perfect.