Alfajores: Caramel Filled Cookies with Coconut Flakes

These cookies are one of my absolute favorites. I first discovered them when I was in high school at an international food festival. Someone brought them in and as soon as I got home, I looked up the recipe.

 

The gooey, sweet, and creamy caramel and soft cookie on the outside just go so perfectly together.  

 

They are always a hit whenever I bring them to an event. Buon Appetito!

ingredients

12 tbsp. butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 egg yolks

2 1/2 cups corn starch

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

zest of 1/2 lemon

dulce de leche (sweetened condensed milk can)

grated coconut

 

let's make it

for the dulce de leche filling

1. Fill a small pot with water halfway and place on stove, low heat. 

2. Open up the can of sweetened condensed milk, and place it in the pot filled with water on the stove. 

3. Make sure there is enough water to cover the can, but not to overflow into it. 

4. Leave the can on low heat until the milk becomes dark, thick and creamy. About 1-2 hours.

for the cookies

1. Cream the butter and sugar together.

 

2. Add the 1 egg, 2 egg yolks, corn starch, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, and zest of lemon. 

 

3. Mix all ingredients together and begin to knead the dough into a ball. 

 

4. Set aside in the fridge for 20 minutes. 

 

5. Once the dough has rested, take pieced of it and roll into little balls in the palm of your hands. 

 

6. Flatten them down onto a greased cookie sheet. 

 

7. Bake in a preheated 300 degree F oven for about 12 minutes, until golden light brown. 

 

8. Once the cookies are baked and have cooled, spread the dulce de leche on one cookie and make a sandwich with another cookie. 

 

9. Press the cookies together so that the dulce de leche comes out in between. Then dip the sides into coconut flakes. 

Homemade Gnocchi

I LOVE gnocchi. Every time I go to an Italian restaurant and I see them on the menu... I just have to get them. We've tried many times making them at home, but they never came out pillowy-soft, melt in your mouth, like at certain restaurants. Then we tried making it with this recipe, and well it's a keeper. Buon Appetito!

ingredients

4 potatoes
3 cups flour
1 egg
a pinch of salt
(some water if needed)1/2 cup parmigiano cheese

let's make it

1. Boil the potatoes and once cooled, place them through a ricer.
2. Clear and open, free area on a tabletop. Place riced potatoes down on flat area and place in flour, egg, cheese, and salt. Mix it all together and knead (softly) it into a dough ball.
3. Then take a knife, and separate the ball, slicing it into 4-5 sections.
4. Then from each section, knead it into long pieces, rolling in and out. Use a sprinkle of flour if it begins to stick.
5. Cut each long piece into pillow-like cubes.
6. Take a fork and pat it in some flour.
7. Take every single piece of gnocchi and run it softly over the fork to make the ridges.
8. When done with the gnocchi, place them on a flour-dusted surface, so they don’t stick.
9. Bring to boil a large pot of water.
10. Place a few gnocchi into boiling water. Once they begin to rise up to water surface, wait another minute. Then remove them from water.
11. Serve them with your sauce of choice over them.

Sweet French Toast Bake

I'm a total breakfast girl. I wake up and I am HUNGRY. I love breakfast because it is the start of a brand new day, and the wonderful smells of coffee, pancakes, eggs, pastries, sausage, oh the list goes on and on--- well they're just the best thing ever to wake up to. 

Since we've been on the quarantine, I've had so much more time to try new recipes and cook--- all the time. This recipe I found really great, especially if you have old bread lying around and you don't want to throw it away. It was SO good, and your kitchen will smell amazing! Buon Appetito!

Ingredients

(For the toast)

 4-5 Bread Slices  

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

butter for the pan

(for the topping)

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 pinch of salt

1 pinch freshly ground nutmeg

3 tablespoons butter
maple syrup for serving

fruit for topping serving

               

let's make it

                                    

1.  Butter the baking pan with a few tablespoons of butter.
 
2. Tear/cut the bread slices into cubes, and distribute evenly in baking pan. 


3. In a bowl, whisk eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Pour over the bread in the baking pan. Then place it in the fridge to cool as you preheat the oven. 

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. For the topping: mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and some nutmeg in a bowl. Add a few slices of butter, and mix everything together until the consistency is like pebbles. 

6. Remove the baking pan from the fridge and sprinkle the topping over the bread. 

7. Bake for around 40 minutes.