Oh boy do I have a recipe for you. Have you heard of alfajores? They are little soft lemon cookies sandwiched together with dulce de leche. Think macarons, but a little more dense. Last month, or maybe the month before, the kind people from Try The World sent me one of their food boxes. How it works - you sign up, pay a price, and receive a curated box full of delicious treats from a new country bi-monthly. I received a box from Argentina. It was full of tasty things like dulce de leche, shortbread cookies, chimichurri sauce, and more. The box came with a recipe for these alfajores, and I was super excited to try them.
Funny story - on my first attempt, I managed to screw up these cookies royally. The recipe called for corn flour, which I thought was a little strange. I made the cookies with the same corn flour that I use for tortillas. They came out of the oven, I let them cool. I was then ready to smear copious amount of dulce de leche and sandwich the cookies together when I thought - maybe I'll try one first. Let me tell you, it tasted like a small hard gritty tortilla. So so wrong. After some further investigation, I realized that what they meant to write in the recipe was cornstarch. Still hesitant by the large quantity of cornstarch, I made a second attempt, which was much more successful. Although, if I were to make them again, I would probably make the cookies a little thinner, and up the ratio of dulce de leche - because that stuff is incredible. Think smooth soft creamy caramel that is far too easy to eat with a spoon. I highly encourage you to give these cookies a try. They are super fun to make and really delicious.
- life updates -
Guys, I finally picked a paint color for the exterior of our house. If you know me or have been around me in the last year, you're probably feeling a sense of relief that I will no longer be talking about exterior paint colors. The task of choosing a color had taken over my life and was stressing me to no end. Twelve months is how long it has taken me to choose. The indecisiveness kills me. My issue with paint color is not choosing the color, it's the fact that it never looks the same on the house and that kills me. This last attempt, I chose a light green/brown. Just for fun. I painted it on the wall, and it looked blue-gray. The color that I have been trying to achieve for a year now. So frustrating, I want to punch something.
We finally bought a king size mattress, which I think I talked about the last post. Seriously, it's life-changing. Also, if you're looking to splurge on comfort, linens sheets are the way to go. And silk pajamas. And a trip to Hawaii. That would be nice.
My baby bump is getting out of control. Some days I feel like I am carrying twins. I can no longer stretch into my old t-shirts, and feel like the 3 maternity shirts I own, aren't going to cut it anymore. Some days I look at myself and think holy shit, how will I ever lose this weight.
I just started buying baby clothes, and OMG, tiny baby clothes.
I want to eat corn on the cob all day long. My craving for it is intense and fierce. Last week they ran out at the grocery store, and I almost had a full-on meltdown. I was like 'where the f--- is the corn on the cob'. They were like 'we sold out you crazy person, get a grip'.
ALFAJORES WITH DULCE DE LECHE
makes 20 - 2 inch sandwich cookies
2 cups corn starch
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 stick + 3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
500g or 1 cup
or
dulce de leche
In a medium bowl, sift together the corn starch, flour, and baking powder. Set to the side.
In the bowl of a stand-mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Add the vanilla, then the eggs one at a time. Mix until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Turn the mixer to low. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined.
Scoop the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Roughly shape into a ball and wrap. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Dust the counter and rolling pin with flour. Roll the dough 1/4 inch thick. Using a cookie cutter or the bottom of a 2 inch circular glass, cut out the cookie shapes. Place the cookies onto the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
Spread a layer of dulce de leche in between two cookies.
Can be stored in an airtight container for a week.
