Cooking with Kids: Awesome Alfajores

Dress up your tradition of making cookies with the kids with a batch of these colorful alfajores! These melt-in-your-mouth cookies are a treat and with fluffy butter cream that is dyed bright red, orange, and blue, they are as beautiful as they are delicious. Call the kids into the kitchen, we’re going to start baking! 

What’s great about these cookies (besides being scrumptious), is the ease of their recipes. Simple to make, they have quite a few (but easy) steps that can keep the little ones busy right alongside you. Using a stand mixer helps speed things up, but if you don’t have one or want to make these cookies the old fashioned way, the best tools to use are a whisk and (when the dough starts forming) your hands. That’s right, dig in with the kids! They’ll love getting messy with your approval!

Encourage them to measure ingredients, sift, roll out the dough, and put those cookie cutters to good use. Baking is also a great opportunity to try different ingredients. Whether it’s Gingerbread with ginger and molasses, Snow Days with dulce de leche and coconut, or Peppermint Crunch with crushed candy canes, the little ones can be taste testers throughout the baking process. This helps develop their palate and also rewards their hard work with a sweet product they can try before everyone else.

And just a general note: using food coloring is also a great way to liven up old recipes. Mix different colors to create new ones. Make green Snow Days and purple Gingerbread cookies, with yellow Peppermint Crunch! Color your coconut shavings and the sugar, the hues you use are up to you. No matter which flavors you choose, you’ll be making not only delicious cookies but also sweet memories!

Next, three delicious alfajores recipes… [pagebreak]

Gingerbread Alfajores

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon molasses
• 2 tablespoons grated ginger
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Get the full reicpe. 

Snow Days Alfajores 

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup shredded coconut shavings

Get the full recipe. 

Peppermint Crunch Alfajores

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup crushed peppermint candy

Get the full recipe.