I was happy to see a recipe for "Alfajores Bars" in One Tin Bakes by Edd Kimber, because it seemed like it would be a lot less fuss than making individual alfajor sandwich cookies. The headnote explains that the cookie base of these bars is more like a shortbread and not quite a tender as an alfajor cookie, because otherwise they would be tricky to cut into bars.
The same base recipe is used for both the crust and the crumble topping. You beat room temperature butter and sugar until light and creamy; and add flour, corn starch, and salt. You press two-thirds of the mixture into the bottom of a parchment-lined pan; spread on dulce de leche (I used a whole can of La Lechera); and add desiccated coconut into the rest of the crust mixture before crumbling it on top. I was a little confused by the recipe note which says that you can used either desiccated coconut, dried coconut, or a mix of the two. In my mind, desiccated coconut and dried coconut are the same thing: unsweetened shredded coconut. So I guess these terms refer to two different things in the UK, but I'm not sure what. In any case, I used Let's Do Organic unsweetened shredded coconut and it worked out fine. I baked the bars until the topping was browned, and tented the bars with foil partway through baking because the coconut was browning much faster than the rest of the topping.
While the bars were baking, the dulce de leche bubbled up through the topping in a few sports, especially around the edges. The portion of the dulce de leche that ended up exposed had a bit of a rubbery texture. The bars cut fairly cleanly, but the topping shed a lot of crumbs. The topping was crisp and coconut-y and while these bars certainly have a similar flavor profile to an alfajor, the textures were so different that alfajores did not come to mind as I was eating one. While I was spreading on the dulce de leche it seemed like I was using an awful lot of it, but I actually would not have minded having a thicker layer of filling.
I enjoyed these bars and certainly think the recipe produced a great result for the minimal amount of effort required. But if you have the time and patience, I think a traditional alfajor cookie is hard to beat!
Recipe: "Alfajores Bars" from One Tin Bakes by Edd Kimber.
Previous Posts:
- "Caramel Through Thick and Thin: BraveTart's Alfajores Con Cajeta," November 3, 2019.
- "Baked Sunday Mornings: Alfajores," May 12, 2013.
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