Sugar Cookies With Dulce De Leche Cuban Recipes

DULCE DE LECHE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spread coconut in ungreased shallow pan. Bake uncovered 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Turn off oven. In food processor bowl with metal blade, place cooled coconut. Cover; process until ground. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until smooth. Add egg yolks, rum and vanilla. On high speed, beat about 1 minute or until blended.
• In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until well blended. Cover; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. On ungreased nonstick (not insulated) cookie sheets, place balls about 2 inches apart. Dip bottom of small glass into 1/4 cup sugar; press on cookies to make about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
• Bake 10 to 11 minutes or just until edges begin to brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• For each sandwich cookie, spread about 1 teaspoon of the caramel apple dip on bottom of 1 cookie, spreading to edge of cookie. Top with second cookie. Gently squeeze until filling oozes out a little around the side. Roll edges of cookies in ground coconut.

CUBAN SUGAR COOKIES (TORTICAS DE MORON) WITH DULCE DE LECHE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, add the flour, salt, and baking powder. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed for 1 minute. Add the sugar and continue to beat for 4 minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
• Add the egg and beat 1 more minute to combine. Scrape down bowl as needed.
• Add the rum and vanilla and beat to combine.
• Add the flour and beat on low speed until just combined. Do not over-mix.
• Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a round disc. Wrap each one with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick liners.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out a disc to about 3/8-inch thickness. Cut out the cookies with a round 2 1/2-inch cookie cutter. Place the cookies on a baking sheet. Gather up excess dough after cutting the cookies, shape into another disk, and roll out for more cookies. Use your thumb, small teaspoon, or the end of a pestle to make a small indention in the center of each cookie.
• Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill for 10 to 20 minutes to firm up the dough. Repeat rolling and cutting process with second dough disc.
• Bake the cookies until the edges are lightly golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely. Top each cookie with a dollop of dulce de leche.
• Store cookies in a sealed container at room temperature.

WALNUT-SHAPED COOKIES WITH DULCE DE LECHE

Steps:

• Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. Add flour and salt and mix until just incorporated; overmixing will make the dough too stiff. Cover the dough with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes, or up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Press about 1 teaspoonful of the chilled dough into the bottom and up the sides of each walnut-shaped mold. Place the molds on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned around the edges, 12 to 18 minutes. Cool for a few minutes. Lightly tap on the bottom of the mold to pop out the cookies. Let cool until easily handled.
• Spoon some dulce de leche onto the bottom of each cookie and sandwich the halves together.

TAHINI THUMBPRINTS COOKIES WITH DULCE DE LECHE

Steps:

• Place racks in the upper and lower thirds of an oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda, and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tahini and mix on medium speed until well combined, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.
• Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and salt to the butter-tahini mixture, and mix on medium speed until emulsified, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the dough is evenly mixed.
• Add the flour mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the dough is evenly mixed.
• Roll the cookies into tablespoon-size balls and place them on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
• Bake the cookies for 7 minutes, then remove them from the oven and very carefully use your thumb or the handle of a wooden spoon to make a teaspoon-size indent in the center of each cookie. The cookies will crack slightly along the edges; that's OK. Return the cookies to the oven, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom. Bake until the cookies are set and just barely golden at the edges, another 5 to 7 minutes. Set the pans on cooling racks and press on the indentations slightly if they have puffed up during the baking process. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes.
• Use a small spoon or pastry bag to fill the indentation of each cookie with about 1 teaspoon of dulce de leche, and sprinkle with flaky salt, if using. Let cool completely on the pans. Store in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

DULCE DE LECHE (CARAMEL) COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375.
• In small bowl, combine flour and baking soda.
• In separate bowl, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar, pudding mix and syrup until smooth.
• Beat in eggs until smooth.
• Gradually beat in flour mixture and mix just until fully incorporated.
• Chill dough for 30 minutes.
• Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
• Bake 7-8 minutes (cookie will be soft and just barely done).
• Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute then remove to wire cooling rack.
• Immediately top each cookie with chopped caramels by slightly pushing caramel pieces into the top of each cookie.

BUTTER COOKIES WITH DULCE DE LECHE

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a large baking sheet.
• Whisk together cornstarch, 3/4 cup flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then beat in egg yolks, Pisco, and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until combined, adding 1 to 2 tablespoons flour if dough is sticky. (Dough should be soft.)
• Form dough into a disk and roll out into an 11-inch round (1/8 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Cut out 32 rounds with cutter (reroll scraps if necessary) and transfer to sheet, arranging rounds 1/2 inch apart.
• Bake until firm and pale golden around edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool 10 minutes.
• Sandwich cookies with about 1/2 teaspoon dulce de leche. Dust with confectioners sugar.

OBLEAS - BUTTER COOKIES WITH DULCE DE LECHE

Steps:

• In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter until light and very fluffy. Add the vanilla.
• Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt. Slowly beat into the butter. The dough should be silky soft, but not sticky; if it sticks, work in a little more flour. Divide the dough into 4 parts and shape into flattened disks. Chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Place a piece of dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper or parchment paper and roll out to less than 1/8 inch thick - as thin as you can make it and still be able to handle the dough. (If the dough because sticky at any time, refrigerate it and work on another piece). Chill the dough again.
• Peel off the top layer of paper and turn the dough upside down onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. With a sharp metal cutter, cut into 2 inch circles, leaving 1/2-inch between the cookies. Peel away the excess dough, form it into a disk and chill. Chill the cookies on the sheet for 10 minutes, then bake until lightly browned around the edges, 12 - 14 minutes. Cool on a rack.
• Roll and bake the remaining dough, including all scraps.
• When cool, sandwich two cookies together with a layer of dulce de leche.
• Variations: *Filled cookies may be dipped in melted bittersweet chocolate. Or drizzled with melted chocolate. *Dust the cookies with a little confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder. *Add a pinch of ground cinnamon or ground anise to the dough. *To make these cookies the traditional way, with cajeta, substitute half canned goat's milk in the Dulce de Leche recipe. Canned goat's milk may be found in your market next to the evaporated and condensed milk.