Dulce de Leche Cookies

I was making a few Mexican meals and looked around for an appropriate dessert.  I found some Dulce de Leche (caramel) cookies and decided that would be a lovely choice. 

 

Dulce de Leche Cookies

Garnish

3/4 cup finely chopped peanuts
or
3/4 cup toasted flaked coconut

Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
3 Tablespoons rum or 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

Filling

1 can (14 oz.) dulce de leche (caramelized sweetened condensed milk)

 

Don't heat the oven.  You will chill the dough before baking.

 

Beat the butter until light and fluffy.  A stand mixer works well for this.  I have a Kitchen Aid.   Add the sugar and mix for another minute. 

 

Separate the egg yolks from the white and put them in the mixer with the rum and vanilla.  Mix until blended.

 

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture. 

 

When well mixed, cover the mixing bowl and chill for 30 minutes.

 

Now you can heat the oven to 350°.  Either spray the cookie sheets, use parchment paper or use Silpat sheets.  I used a medium cookie scoop and placed them on the sheets. 

 

Butter the bottom of a glass and dip it into the 1/4 cup sugar you have placed in a small bowl.  Use the sugared bottom of the glass to press the cookies into a circle about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

 

Bake 10 to 11 minutes, or just until the edges begin to brown.  Remove from the cookie sheets to  cooling racks after they cool about two minutes on the cookie sheets.  They will be soft.  Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

 

Open the can of dulce de leche.  Take a heaping teaspoonful and spread it on the bottom of one cookie. 

 

Press another cookie on top and gently press them together until the dulce de leche oozes out of the sides. 

 

Roll the edges in a small pile of chopped peanuts or the toasted coconut. 

 

I used the peanuts.

 

Store in a plastic sealed container.  These were good, but I may use the smaller scoop next time to make the cookies thinner and thus, crisper.  They were very good, however and I liked the caramel center. I also liked that is was an easy to fix center.  Open the can!  Yay!