Recipe: Chilean Sandwich Cookies (Chilenitos)

CHILEAN SANDWICH COOKIES (CHILENITOS)Source: Daisy Cooks; Latin Flavors that will Rock your World, by Daisy Martinez, page 265
makes about 16 sandwich cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour or as needed
2 1/2 cups cornstarch, or as needed
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 lb. or 4 sticks butter, plus more for the pans, if necessary, softened'
1 cup sugar
2 eggs plus 2 yolks
2 tb Malibu or other similar rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
grated zest of one lemon
Dulce de Leche (Recipe follows)

Stir the flour, cornstarch, baking powder & salt together in a large bowl until well blended.

Beat the butter & sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk (or in a bowl, using a handheld mixer) at high speed until pale yellow & fluffy. Beat in the eggs & yolks one at a time. Beat in the rum, vanilla & zest. Switch to the paddle attachment (or a wooden spoon if you are using a handheld mixer) & add the dry ingredients. Mix at Low speed just as it incorporated. The dough should form a soft ball but not be sticky or runny. If necessary, add a little bit of each of the flour, cornstarch & mix.

Chill the dough until firm, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. Let the dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before continuing.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Divide the dough in half & roll each half out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch. Cut into 3 inch circles & place them on a greased or nonstick baking sheet. Work in batches or use several baking sheets.

Bake until the cookies are pale golden brown, about 12 minutes. Rotate the pans from shelf to shelf & front to back once, as the cookies bake. Cool completely.

Make the Dulce de Leche.

Use 2 cookies & about 1 tb of the sweetened filling to make the sandwiches. The cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Variation:
For decoration, press the cookie sandwiches lightly so the filling oozes out just a little. Set out plates with different toppings such as shredded coconut, salted peanuts & cocoa powder, & have the guests roll the edges in them.

DULCE DE LECHE/CUBAN DESSERT

4 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar

Combine milk and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened to the consistency of condensed milk and slightly darkened in color, about 1 hour.

DULCE DE LECHE
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Remove the label from the can of condensed milk. Do not open the can yet. Take the can and stick it in a pot.

Cover it with water. Put the pot in a stove and turn up the heat. Let the pot and can simmer gently for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours for runny delce de leche, or up to 4 hours for solid dulce de leche. Add more water, as necessary, when the level boils down too much.

When it's done, let it cool for a while, and then carefully open the can and eat directly (for the solid variety) or use as a dessert spread (for the liquid variety). The resulting product should be colored tan or brown.

Note: You need to keep a close eye on the can. If it shows any signs of expansion, immediately remove it from the heat and let it cool. If you are concerned at all at the high-pressure nature of the recipe, you may poke a small hole in the top of the can, and lower the water level so that the can is not competely covered. This will allow the internal pressure of the can to be released, but it will also make the recipe take longer (since high pressure reduces cooking time).