Alfajores de maicena are tender Argentine cornstarch cookies sandwiched with thick dulce de leche and rolled in coconut. Keep the cookies pale and the filling generous for a soft, crumbly treat to share with coffee or mate.
Alfajores at a Glance
How to Make Alfajores
You need just a few pantry ingredients: cornstarch, flour, butter, sugar, egg yolks and a jar of thick dulce de leche. A splash of brandy and a little lemon zest are traditional, but optional. Here’s the method at a glance; the full recipe card is below.
1Make and Chill the Dough
Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, add the yolks, then mix in the cornstarch and flour just until combined. The dough is soft and short, like shortbread, so roll it between sheets of plastic wrap and chill it before cutting.
2Bake Until Just Set
Cut 2-inch rounds and bake them for 10 to 12 minutes. Pull them while they’re still pale on top. Alfajores cookies should never brown.
3Fill With Dulce de Leche
Once the cookies are completely cool, pipe or spread a heaping teaspoon of dulce de leche onto half of them and top with the rest.
4Roll the Edges in Coconut
Press gently so the filling reaches the edges, then roll each alfajor through shredded coconut. Dust the tops with powdered sugar if you like.
Tips for Perfect Alfajores
- Handle the dough as little as possible. Like shortbread, it turns tough if you overwork it.
- Keep it cold. Chill the dough between rolling and cutting so the butter stays firm and the dough is easy to handle.
- Don’t overbake. Pale cookies stay tender. Golden cookies turn crunchy.
- Use thick dulce de leche. Look for “repostero” (baker’s) style so the filling holds its shape.
- Fill them ahead. Alfajores are even better the next day, once the cookies soften into the filling.
Alfajores (Argentine Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies)
Classic Argentine alfajores de maicena: tender cornstarch cookies sandwiched with dulce de leche and rolled in coconut. They melt in your mouth and taste even better the next day.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 2/3 cups (215 g) cornstarch (maicena)
- 1 1/4 cups (155 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup (135 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon brandy, cognac or rum (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Filling and coating
- 1 1/2 cups (about 450 g) thick dulce de leche, homemade or store-bought
- 1/2 cup (40 g) finely shredded unsweetened coconut
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the brandy (if using) and the lemon zest.
- Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each.
- With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and mix just until no flour is visible. The dough will be soft and a little crumbly.
- Knead the dough a few times, divide it in half and flatten each half into a disk. Roll each disk between sheets of plastic wrap and parchment to about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment.
- Cut out 2-inch rounds and set them 1 inch apart on the baking sheets. Re-roll the scraps, chilling them again if they get soft.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are set but still pale on top, with just a hint of gold underneath. Do not let them brown.
- Cool the cookies on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
- Spread or pipe a heaping teaspoon of dulce de leche onto the flat side of half the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies and press gently so the filling reaches the edges.
- Roll the edges of each alfajor in the shredded coconut, then dust the tops with powdered sugar if you like.
Notes
Use thick dulce de leche. Look for "repostero" (baker's) style, or cook homemade dulce de leche until it holds its shape. A runny filling will ooze out.
Storage: Keep alfajores in an airtight container at cool room temperature for 3 to 5 days. They soften and taste even better after a day. Unfilled cookies freeze well for up to 1 month.
Chocolate alfajores: Skip the coconut and dip the filled cookies in melted dark or milk chocolate, then let them set on parchment.
Timing: allow 20 minutes to chill the dough and about 20 minutes to cool the cookies completely before filling. Baking time is per batch; allow extra time for additional batches or re-chilling soft dough. Prepared dulce de leche is assumed.
How to Make Dulce de Leche for Alfajores
Store-bought dulce de leche works well (see our favorite dulce de leche brands), but homemade adds another layer of flavor.
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Stir together the milk, sugar and baking soda in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick and caramel-colored, about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.
- After the first hour the milk starts to caramelize. From then on, stir more often so it doesn’t scorch.
- Stir in the vanilla, transfer to a bowl and let cool. It thickens more as it cools. Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for one batch of alfajores.
Refrigerated, it keeps for a couple of weeks. Short on time? Try our condensed milk method.
Dulce de Leche vs. Caramel vs. Cajeta
If a well-meaning friend tells you to fill alfajores with caramel sauce, don’t do it. The three aren’t the same thing.
Cow’s milk and sugar cooked slowly together. Milky and thick enough to hold a cookie sandwich together.
Sugar cooked until it melts. Add butter and cream for caramel sauce, which tastes buttery, slightly bitter and runs.
Mexico’s goat-milk version. It works in a pinch, but it isn’t the Argentine flavor.
Styles of Argentine Alfajor
Walk into any Argentine kiosco and you’ll find a whole wall of alfajores. These are the styles worth knowing.
Alfajores de Maicena
The recipe above: two cornstarch cookies that almost melt in your mouth, filled with dulce de leche and rolled in grated coconut.
Chocolate-Coated (Mar del Plata Style)
Cookies and filling get a full coat of milk, dark or white chocolate. Havanna, founded in Mar del Plata in 1947, made this style famous.
Alfajor Santafesino
Thin, crisp layers of pastry stacked with dulce de leche and covered in a hard white glaze.
Alfajor Cordobés
Filled with fruit jam, most often quince, instead of dulce de leche, and glazed with sugar.
Triple Alfajores
Three cookies and two layers of filling instead of two and one. Most of the big brands sell a triple version.
Where Alfajores Come From
The alfajor is older than Argentina itself. The word comes from Arabic: the Real Academia Española traces it to a term meaning “the filling” or “the stuffing.” The Moors introduced the sweet to Spain, and it has been changing shape ever since.
- Al-AndalusMoorish Spain makes the alfajor as a finger-shaped confection of honey, almonds, walnuts and spices, with no filling. Spain still makes it that way.
- 1500sSpanish settlers carry alfajores to the Americas, where bakers turn them into round cookies sandwiched with dulce de leche.
- 1851A confectioner in Santa Fe starts selling the layered, glazed alfajores the city still makes today.
- 1950sBrands on Argentina’s Atlantic coast around Mar del Plata begin producing alfajores in bulk, and they become an everyday snack.
- 2026Buenos Aires builds the world’s largest alfajor.
How Much Argentina Loves Alfajores
Argentina is the world’s biggest alfajor market. Recent industry estimates put consumption at close to 12 million alfajores a day, or roughly 100 per person each year. They’re eaten at any hour: with a morning café con leche, as an afternoon snack alongside mate, or straight from the kiosco wrapper.
Neighboring Uruguay is just as devoted, and the two countries even compete on size. Uruguay held the Guinness World Record for the largest alfajor from 2010, with a 464 kg (1,023 lb) alfajor made in Minas. On September 6, 2026, Buenos Aires took the title with a 3,112 kg (about 6,860 lb) alfajor assembled in Recoleta’s Plaza de las Naciones Unidas. It took 1,400 kg of dulce de leche.
Famous Argentine Alfajor Brands
If you’d rather buy than bake, Argentina has dozens of alfajor makers, each with loyal fans. These are the names you’ll see most.
Havanna and Cachafaz run their own cafés in Argentina, a bit like Starbucks, where you can sit down with an alfajor and a coffee. In the U.S., you can buy Havanna alfajores online. For our full ranking, see the 8 best alfajor brands in the world.
Alfajores Beyond Argentina
Alfajores are loved across South America, and each country has its own take.
Delicate cornstarch alfajores dusted with powdered sugar, plus the giant layered King Kong. Read our guide to Peruvian alfajores.
Chocolate-dipped alfajores are an everyday snack. See our Uruguayan desserts.
Find Chile’s version among our Chilean desserts.
Both have their own takes. See our Bolivian and Ecuadorian dessert roundups.
Alfajores FAQ
Are alfajores Argentine or Peruvian?
Both, and originally neither. Alfajores came from Moorish Spain and reached South America with Spanish colonists. Argentina and Peru each developed their own style, and Argentina eats far more of them than anywhere else.
What does “alfajor” mean?
It comes from Arabic, from a word meaning “the filling” or “the stuffing.”
How do you pronounce alfajores?
Ahl-fah-HOH-rehs. The singular, alfajor, is ahl-fah-HOR.
Why are my alfajores hard?
Usually the dough was overworked or the cookies baked too long. Mix just until the flour disappears and take them out while they’re still pale.
How long do homemade alfajores keep?
About 3 to 5 days in an airtight container at cool room temperature. The cookies soften as they sit, which many people prefer. Unfilled cookies freeze for up to a month.
Hungry for more? Learn the history of dulce de leche or browse more Argentinian desserts.
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Jorge Garcia is the founder of AmigoFoods, where he has spent over 20 years helping readers discover authentic Latin American and Spanish cuisine. Raised in a Cuban-American household, Jorge learned to cook at the hands of his mother and grandmother, carrying forward generations of family recipes. That heritage, backed by his family’s four-generation history in the Latin food industry, inspired him to launch AmigoFoods in 2003. With more than 1,000 published articles on recipes, ingredients, and food culture, Jorge’s mission is simple: make authentic Latin cooking approachable for home cooks everywhere while honoring the traditions behind every dish.