Friday, December 31, 2021

Week 2: A Blissfully Decadent, Melt-in-Your-Mouth Sandwich Cookie

This week is all about cutting and rolling cookie dough.
The Spruce Daily

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Week 2: Learning to Cut and Roll Cookie Dough with Caramel Sandwich Cookies
Imagine biting into a blissfully decadent, melt-in-your-mouth cookie sandwich filled with creamy dulce de leche caramel—all rolled in a cloud of chewy coconut. The crisp cookie is a dramatic contrast to its gooey, soft filling. As the sandwich sits, it softens, melding with the filling and developing a cake-like texture. We can't wait to get into the recipe. But first, let's dive into everything cutting and rolling cookie dough.
The most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to making cut-out cookies, is that chilling the dough and keeping it chilled throughout the rolling and cutting process is key to achieving a perfect cut. Too-warm dough will glom onto your work surface, making it very difficult to transfer your shapes onto a baking sheet.
There are a few different ways to achieve the right dough temperature. The most common is to chill the dough in the refrigerator. But my go-to method is to incorporate small (1 tbsp) pieces of cold butter into my butter-sugar mixture when I cream it. That way, I can go straight from the bowl to rolling—no chilling time required.
Then, I lightly flour my surface and roll out the dough. I like using a shaker sifter to control the amount of flour I use. My favorite rolling pin makes it super easy to get the exact dough thickness I want. When I'm ready to cut out my shapes, I dip the cutting edge of the cookie cutter into flour. It makes for cleaner cuts and prevents dough from sticking to the edges. You can always use a pastry brush to remove excess flour from the dough.
A few things to remember throughout the rolling and cutting process:
  • Cut shapes close together to minimize dough scraps
  • Press firmly and lift straight back up without twisting or sliding cutter
  • Feel free to re-roll scraps, but only once
  • Repeatedly rolling out dough will overwork it and make for tough cookies
As you get more comfortable making cookies from scratch, you'll figure out which methods you like best. This is, after all, a journey that's all your own.
Next week: how ingredient ratios determine the kind of cookie you end up with. Today: tender, chewy, gooey alfajores. Don't forget to let us know how they turned out in the comments section of our recipe page!
Hello, Cookies
Today On The Spruce
Ingredients

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  • 1 3/4 cups cornstarch
  • 120 grams (about 1 cup) all-purpose flour, more as needed
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup (8-ounces) room-temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons pisco, or brandy, more as needed
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup homemade or store-bought dulce de leche
  • 1/2 cup sweetened shredded dried coconut
Let's Make Some Chewy, Gooey Alfajore
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1. Place the cornstarch, flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix to combine.
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2. Add butter to the flour mixture, blending with your fingers until the mixture is smooth (see note in Step 3 about using a stand mixer as an alternative).
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3. Add the powdered sugar, pisco, and vanilla. Combine with your hands until a smooth dough forms. Add another tablespoon or two of pisco if the dough is too crumbly to form a ball. Alternatively, use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed; this will cut the prep time down by about half. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap, and let the dough rest, refrigerated, for 30 minutes.
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4. Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350 F. Lightly flour a work surface. Roll out dough to 3/8" thickness, and cut into 2-inch circles. Combine and re-roll the scraps, continuing to cut cookies until the dough is finished.
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5. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
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6. Bake cookies one sheet at a time until the edges begin to turn golden brown, rotating the tray halfway through for 15 to 17 minutes total. Let cookies cool 5 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely.
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7. To fill the cookies, spread one cookie with dulce de leche.
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8. Top with a second cookie to make a sandwich. Roll the edges in the coconut, sprinkling more over the edges if the coconut doesn't adhere easily.
More Cookie Recipes to Try
Sugar
Classic Sugar Cookies
Windmill Cookies
Sugar
Chocolate Wafer Cookies
Czech Susenky Christmas Cookies
The Spruce Eats on YouTube
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Sugar Cookies 3 Delicious Ways
Watch & Learn
This Week's Baking Essentials
How to Cut Cookies Without a Cookie Cutter
Homemade Dulce de Leche: A Rich Caramel Sauce
All About Freezing and Thawing Cookie Dough

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