When I was a kid back home in Tanga, one of my favourite treats was sweetened condensed milk on white bread. I know, it sounds awful now and could possibly explain my cholesterol levels, but it was oh so good back then. Little did I know that if I were to take that condensed milk and cook it down, it would make Dulce de Leche (imagine trumpets blaring in the background as you say it). Yes DdL (shortened as the trumpets are giving me a headache), is a richer product made by cooking condensed milk. Now you can make your own or if short of time, there are a number of good varieties out there for you to use.
I’m running out of time, I’m only on cookie #8 and I’ve only got a few days left to get to 12. So canned it is. This is a great tasting cookie, nothing special to the recipe really, it’s the DdL that makes it wonderful. Easy to do, no refrigeration required – just whiz it in a processer, roll, cut and bake. So give this a try. Chef’s Message: Rest assured, taste has not been compromised in the making of these cookies.
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups cold butter, cut into cubes
6 tbsp. icing sugar – plus more for dusting
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 oz. Dulce de Leche (sorry, I know the can is much bigger, but add it to your daily cup of coffee for a rich treat. Don’t add sugar though, you won’t need it – think of Irish Cream Coffee without the Irish – ahem.)
Preheat the oven to 325F
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
Add all the dry ingredients to the food processor and mix until a dough forms
When it has formed, turn it onto a lightly floured surface (if you need to knead it a bit as it is not quite together do so now)
Roll the dough out to 1/8″ thickness
Use a small round cutter to cut shapes – remember, there are a lot of cookies to try on my table, I want all of them tried, no point making it big. Save the big cookie cutters for when it is the only one you are making. I used a 1.5″ diameter cookie cutter and got 45 sandwich cookies
Place the cookies onto the baking sheets, they don’t spread so you can put them fairly close together – still leave space though – no touching
Bake for 10 – 12 minutes – I baked mine for 10 minutes in a convection oven
Remove when done and let cool on a rack
When cooled, using a teaspoon or butter knife, dip into the DdL and spread it onto one side of the flat side of the cookie – if you have never made a sandwich cookie before, they fit back-to-back to give you the finished top side no matter how you look at it
Put the flat side of another cookie on top to form a sandwich – repeat until all are gone
Dust the cookies with icing sugar
Now this next step is very important – if there is remaining DdL in the bowl, take a teaspoon and scrape it all up, now put it in your mouth and taste happiness. A time when the most important thing on your mind was figuring out exactly which of the things you asked Santa for you were actually going to get at this time of year.
As always – enjoy!
