This cookie has a ‘melt in your mouth’ kind of texture, sort of like shortbread. The filling is cooked sweetened condensed milk OR dulce de leche, available just recently in Canada by Presidents Choice. This year I tried the latter on some of the cookies and it works well too. It’s just a little darker, but tastes the same.I got this recipe about 30 years ago from Elvira W. who had came from South America, where I also lived as a young girl. I loved the cookies, mainly because the filling reminded me of dulce de leche which we ate as kids, like honey. I found out that they were quite a bit of work to make when I made them for our daughter’s first birthday, so I decided that they would be Christmas cookies and eventually we ended up calling them angel kisses.
Ingredients:
1 cup soft butter
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups cornstarch
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 can sweetened condensed milk
flaked coconut
Cook unopened can of sweetened condensed milk, in water, for 1 hour. Cool completely in fridge. Good if you can do this the day ahead. If you prefer, you can use 1 jar Dulce de Leche.This cookie recipe has no liquids, so I find it is very important to use very soft butter, but not melted. I take it out of the fridge the night before. It also helps to use a large mixer that has a dough (hook) attachment.
Beat butter until very creamy. Beat in the yolks. Mix sugar and lemon rind, then add to creamed mixture, along with vanilla. Stir in cornstarch and combined other dry ingredients, until smooth. Shape into ball.
Taking about 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll out on floured surface to about 1/4 inchthickness. Cut with small, round cookie cutter or tomato paste can. Place on
floured cookie sheets and bake at 350F for about 8 min. Do not over bake. Cookies should just be starting to get color on the underside, not on top. Cool.
Stick two cookies together with cooked sweetened condensed milk, spreading the sides (edges) as well and rolling them in coconut. Freeze to set. Store in air tight container in freezer and beware if someone in your family likes eating them frozen!
Oh my...what beautiful and decadent looking cookies. Yum....I sure would like to try one right now.
ReplyDeleteOh my! I am certainly going to try baking this cookie. It looks so unique and so yummy!
ReplyDeleteOh, my dil has brought these to our house to share. . .I wonder if the recipe is the same, I'll have to ask her. . .thanks for sharing, they look wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking cookie. A definite must try. Your picture looks fantastic
ReplyDeletehey hey hey......i was just about to post these. the cookie is called "alfahores" in spainish and we love them too!!!!
ReplyDeletemy recipe doesn't have lemon rind, but i bet that would be good!
besides you pictures look way better :^Q (that is a toungue liking the lips in case you didn't figure that out...smile)
almost gluten free julie, just a little tweeking
Yummy Yummy Yummy!!! You better be saving some of these treasures for when we're up there in three weeks!!!
ReplyDeleteoh i just thought i would mention.
ReplyDeleteif you can't find dulce then i have used a caremel spread in place, it works but the dulce is nicer.
Those look quite gourmet! And they sound most delicious. I love all these interesting recipes from different backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteOh how yummy!! Thanks so much! I have some of the sweetened condensed milk in my pantry... how fun! any recipe with that particular ingredient is a 10 in my book...of course, I must be the only one that could pop one of those open and sip away... i know i know! That's bad bad I know!
ReplyDeleteOh, I was going to say also, I have a pie that is called a Caramel Pie that uses 3 cans of swt. condens. milk cooked for 5 hours in the crock pot...ooooo my! Crazy good :)
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say I love this site and am enjoying many recipes. Here in Argentina, my husband and I are missionaries here, that cookie is very popular. It is called an alfajor. We are in the land of dulce de leche and if I want to cheat I can buy those cookies premade and just put on the dulce de leche. The alfajors you can get in the bakery are wonderful. I am sure yours are just as good.
ReplyDeleteLeana
What a cute picture of my favourite Christmas cookie!
ReplyDeleteThese look beautiful! About how many cookies does one batch make? Also, do you think they'd be good for a cookie exchange? How long can they stay out of the freezer?
ReplyDeleteHi Teresa,
ReplyDeleteThis recipe makes about 5 dozen once assembled, if you use a small cookie cutter (1 1/2" at the widest), if you use a larger cookie cutter you will obviously get less. They would be great for a cookie exchange. I would bring them frozen and it doesn't matter if they thaw and you refreeze them. They keep (out of the freezer)like most other cookies, I just find they keep their shape better if the filling doesn't get soft...and they do thaw quite quickly. All the best!
P.S. If you need to double the recipe, make sure you use a mixer with a hook attachment or a food processor.
I made these a couple of days ago for the teachers gifts this year - thank so much for a fool-proof recipe!
ReplyDeleteI Love these!!!
ReplyDelete..but they aren't called "Angel Kisses" ..they are called Alfajores
Thank you for giving us the real name... I wonder what it means? I did not get the name with the recipe and rather than calling the dulce de leche cookies we decided many years ago to give them a Christmas name that made sense to us... I imagine that is what happens to other recipes as well as time goes on.
DeleteIf you use the dulce de leche do you have to cook it like the sweetened condensed milk? I have some of this on hand and would like to use it.
ReplyDeleteIf you use ducle de leche from a jar... you do not need to cook it. It's ready to spread. When you use the sweetened condensed milk, it has to be cooked to thicken it.
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