Lab Christmas Cookie Bake


I was bummed because I was unable to attend the cookie bake at my aunt's this year and was talking to some people at lab about it, and we decided to do one at lab. It was a huge success! My contribution: dulce de leche cookies, or alfajores. I made butter shortbread cookies and sandwiched them with dulce de leche a friend had brought me back from Argentina. Some other cookies we had: chocolate chip, shortbread filled with hazelnuts and chocolate, chocolate macaroons, lime balls, lemon bars, Turkish shakerpare, lemon cookies, Russian tea cookies, Turtle bars, and sugar cookies with nuts. This cookie bake is gong to make me chunky, but soooo worth it!

The recipe I used for the shortbread was one from Epicurious, but modified a little:

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cream

1. In the bowl of a mixer, combine butter, sugar, and cream and mix on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes. One by one, add the egg yolks, mixing until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract. Scrape down the bowl.

2. Turn the mixer off and add the flour. Turn the machine to low and mix until the flour is completely incorporated. Remove the dough from the bowl. Working on parchment or wax paper, form dough into 4 logs 10 inches long and 1 1/4 inches in diameter; wrap and chill overnight and up to 36 hours. Dough can also be frozen for several weeks.

3. Remove dough from refrigerator/freezer. Preheat oven to 350F. Slice rounds from log and transfer to sheet, arranging 1/2 inch apart. Bake at 350 until firm and pale golden around edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool 10 minutes.

4. Sandwich cookies with about 1/2 teaspoon dulce de leche. Dust with confectioners sugar.

I like these cookies cold, so I put them in the refrigerator until I'm about to serve them. If you can't find dulce de leche at the store, a quick recipe (also from Epicurious):

INGREDIENTS
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1. Combine whipping cream and brown sugar in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Boil until mixture is reduced to 1 cup, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Stir in sweetened condensed milk. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Rewarm over medium-low heat just until warm and pourable)

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