Peruvian Cornstarch Alfajores are my favorite cookies, I grew up eating them. In my family, any special occasion such as a birthday, baptism, family reunion, etc required a cookie buffet and Peruvian cornstarch Alfajores were always present.
This recipe is perfect, I’ve made it many times and these cookies have that sandy delicate texture that dissolves in the mouth, not very sweet, that complements the Dulce de Leche and crunchy walnuts.
Eat them carefully, because of the powdered sugar. It flies everywhere, and usually dusts black clothes … one option is to wear white or, what I do, make them small to eat them in one bite.
This recipe is adapted from our old family recipe and an old recipe from a Chilean magazine. These cookies keep their shape, so you can cut them in different shapes.
You may also like the recipe: Chilean Alfajores.
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Peruvian Cornstarch Alfajores
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 30
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Peruvian
Description
Melt in your mouth cornstarch cookies.
Ingredients
- 225 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 egg yolks at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cup (300 grams) cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cup (190 grams) all-purpose flour
- Powdered sugar for dusting
- chopped walnuts or ground nuts or coconut to decorate the edge, optional
- Dulce de Leche, I used the Nestle can, available in Latin supermarkets
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sugar, until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks one at a time, fully beating in, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and mix well.
- Add all the flour and cornstarch and mix until crumbs are formed, then use your hands to form a soft dough. Wrap in plastic film and let stand in refrigerator for 30 minutes minimum, or leave it overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F or 180C.
- Divide dough into 2, roll until it is 1/2 cm. thick, don’t roll them thin because they are very fragile. Cut circles (I used one of 2cm in diameter).
- Bake on a baking sheet cover with parchment or Silpat in a preheated oven at 180C or 350F for 13-15 minutes until they are lightly browned underneath, you can put them fairly close together since they almost do not grow. Cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Fill with the Dulce de Leche. Optional around the edges too and roll in the ground walnuts.
- Finally dust with powdered sugar, through a sieve.
- Let stand 2 hours before serving, or you can fill them the day before. They last well three days in a locked box on the counter.
Keywords: cornstarch alfajores, peruvian alfajores, alfajores de maicena
I tried making alfajores just with only cornstarch and it tasted really bad. I had to throw it away.. I had a really bad aftertaste. Could I be using the wrong cornstarch?
Maybe, make sure is pure cornstarch, a great brand is Bob’s Red Mill, see the packaging here https://amzn.to/2BfqxGh (affiliated link)
I made this alfajores recipe starting the dough last night, today I baked them and they have come out delicious, delicate soft and without being too sweet perfect balance. Thanks for this easy to follow delicious recipe.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, thanks for coming back and comment.
The amounts of flour and cornstarch appear to be different when switching between US and M. When using US measurements the amount of cornstarch is greater than the amount of flour and when you switch to M, the amount of cornstarch is less than the amount of flour. What is the correct measurements?
2 1/2 cups cornstarch and 1 1/2 cups flour
or
320 grams cornstarch and 341 grams flour
The recipe is written and tested with
2 1/2 cups cornstarch and 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
or
300 grams and 190 grams of flour.
I’m sorry it gives you the wrong measurements, I will inform the provider of that plugin.