I am not one for baking cookies and cakes. So if I can get these Shortbread Cookie Sandwiches into the oven in 10 minutes, you can probably do it in 8 minutes! No mixer and just 3 ingredients.
“These cookies are made with just butter, sugar and flour. The holy trinity of baking!”
These insanely addictive morsels are based on a South American treat called Alfajores which are shortbread cookies spread with Dulce De Leche (caramel) and sandwiched together. The shortbread used in Alfajores is not difficult but …..well, honestly? When I started to prepare to make the biscuits, I simply couldn’t muster the energy to do the full blown “real deal” shortbread for the Alfajores which required pulling out my Kitchen Aid, 20 minutes prep rather than 10 minutes, and 6 more ingredients. It had been a long day! I made these biscuits at 9.30pm at night so I could photograph them in the morning!
So after about 3 seconds of indecisiveness, I decided to make my “go to” shortbread instead. And truly, these are so delicious that I am not entirely convinced I will ever make Alfajores again…..
“These sure look like they took more than 10 minutes to prepare….that’s my kind of baking!”
This is the recipe I have used for shortbread since I can remember. Probably since I left home at the tender age of 18 and had to fend for myself (I’m not going to tell you how long ago that was!). It does not require a mixer and it literally takes 3 minutes to mix up. The dough is soft and easy to handle, not so sticky that it’s difficult to roll out and to place the cut rounds onto the baking tray.
And the thing that always gets me is how smooth the silky the surface is when it comes out of the oven! They definitely look like they took more than 10 minutes of work. Now that’s my kind of baking!
These cookie sandwiches are filled with Dulce De Leche made in a slow cooker which requires only 1 ingredient and takes 15 seconds to prepare. All you do is place sealed cans (without even removing the label) into a slow cooker, cover with water and then set and forget. When you open the can, you will be greeted with insanely rich, thick caramel which is perfectly smooth (no stirring required!). It’s a miracle.
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3 Ingredient Shortbread Cookie Sandwich w/Dulce De Leche
Ingredients
- 225 g / 8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter , softened
- 1/2 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar), plus extra for dusting work surface
- 2 cups plain flour
- Dulce De Leche (see Slow Cooker Dulce De Leche (Caramel Sauce) - 1 ingredient recipe)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper. If your baking tray is small, you might need 2.
- Combine butter and icing sugar in a bowl and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add flour and mix until it starts to look like dough (it will start out looking crumbly but it will come together). Use your hands to roughly form a ball.
- Scatter icing sugar over a work surface and turn the dough out onto it.
- Flatten out to about 1cm / 1/2” thickness with your hand, then place a sheet of baking paper over it and use a rolling pin to lightly roll it out to 0.5cm / 1/4 “ thickness.
- Use a 6.5cm/2.5” round cookie cutter to cut rounds out, then use a knife or egg flip to transfer the cookies to the baking tray.
- Ball up the excess dough and cut more rounds. You should get 16 cookies.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until pale golden brown and starting to just slightly brown on the edges. You might think it is undercooked, but it will continue to cook on the baking tray.
- Remove baking trays from oven and let the cookies cool on the tray.
- When the cookies are cool, spread half the cookies with a dollop of Dulce De Leche. Then sandwich with remaining cookies.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
My partner is a shortbread fanatic and I can’t say I share his enthusiasm. These shortbread on the other hand made me change my mind – delicate, buttery and moreish. The dough was very soft – perhaps due to the humidity. The final appearance was rough and rustic but after eating them – we didn’t care. The shortbread pairs so beautifully with dulce de leche. We have some dulce de leche left so it’s a good incentive to make another batch!
These sound amazing! I’m going to make them, however, do you think I can put this dough in a cookie press? Another possibility, could I roll, wrap, refrigerate, and slice the dough into rounds for the cookie sheet?
Shortbread is my favorite. I can’t wait to try this easy recipe.
I made these using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 gluten free four instead of regular flour and they were fantastic. Perfectly crisp yet delicate. Instead of rolling them out, I rolled the dough into a log, wrapped in plastic wrap and cooled it in the fridge for a few hours. Then I sliced them into 1/4” cookies and used a small round cutter to make them all the same size. Even after re-rolling and chilling the dough scraps several times, the cookies came out with the same lovely, delicate texture. Brought them to Christmas dinner as the gluten free option and they disappeared quickly, to rave reviews.
Alfajores were my favourite treat when I was living in Chile. This recipe is exactly like the ones I ate there (even the shortcut shortbread recipe is perfect!). They were so good I made extra to put in the goodie bags I made up for Christmas presents and everyone loved them.
Hola, Can the dough be freezed for future ? trying to stream line cookie boxes for holiday.. I also purchased san ignacio dulce de leche spread.. Think I can use for these? Love your recipes!
Hello, I wanted to know if I make my homemade caramel recipe, what temperature would I cook it to to make it a more liquid caramel? 140 degrees? I cook my cut caramels to 148 degrees.
thank you! looks delicious.
Hi Nagi
Is the icing sugar and flour measured in Australian cups?
The sticks of butter made me think it may be a recipe from the USA.
Hi Nagi, how long should I bake these in a fan forced oven? Thank you!
Hi Dee, the time is listed in step 9 of the instructions. Enjoy! N x
Sorry Nagi, I was meant to ask the temp for a fan fried oven 🤦🏻♀️ Is it still 180?
My fourth time making this recipe (they disappear so quickly!). For the filling I melt about 50g of white chocolate with a couple of tablespoons of dulce de leche in the microwave and pipe it onto the centre of the biscuit. This makes a much firmer filling when cooled, more like a caramel fudge.
We had previously spent several months in South America and were looking to recreate some of the things we’d eaten there.
We made the Dulce De Leche using the recipe on your site (who knew it was so easy??) and the shortbread using this recipe.
Simply DIVINE, the shortbread was so buttery and amazing we couldn’t stop eating! These are even better than the ones we had in South America!
My boyfriend took some to work and we gave some to my parents and everyone was full of praise for it!
We’re going to be making this again this weekend because people have been asking for it!
The one suggestion I would make is that we needed to chill the dough for about 15-30 mins after mixing and before cutting them out on the baking tray. They were otherwise simply too soft and just unworkable (possibly because Singapore’s weather is too humid too). Perhaps this could be stated in the recipe notes.
Thanks Nagi for an amazingly delicious and easy recipe! We love your recipes and this will be in our regular rotation for sure.
I’m so glad you loved it Sharlene!! Yes the temperature will definitely play havoc with the dough – N x
Quick n easy recipe Nagi…n the result was absolutely yummy 😋
I jst made the cookies n placed M&M on them before baking.my kid loves it❤️
Thankuu very much for sharing these recipes ❤️
How long do these last? Also, are they crispy or puffy? I am thinking of making these tonight!
They are great for a few days – up to 4 if you keep them in a really good airtight container!
Are these cookies puffy or crispy? I am going to try to make these tonight!
Hi Zach! Nope they are like shortbread. So soft and crumbly and buttery!
Hi Nagi! Saw this post at the end of your recent cheesecake post…shortbread with Dulce de leche – I am making these today!! They won’t last long here as shortbread cookies are our favorite! 🙂
OOH! Waiting in anticipation to hear what you think!!! 🙂 N x
These look so fancy! Can’t believe there’s only 3 ingredients!
Thanks so much Sarah!! N x
A cool, rainy day, on the California coast… “Lets bake some simple cookies”, my wife said, smiling.. Smiling because she knew I’d bake them and she would clean up after me.. :O)
What took longest was thawing out the sweet butter from the freezer.. She said, ” 3 ingredients?, no way”. I said,”way”, and whipped them out in 10 minutes, plus baking time..
Perfect… Got a yield of 19 cookies, perfectly baked and delicious.. Next time I’ll plan ahead and make the Dulce De Leche…
Thank you for yet another great recipe… :O)
Oooh!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed these Ross!! I’m seriously impressed – you got them in the oven in 10 minutes?? You’re a legend!! PS I love hearing tidbits of your conversation with your wife!!! Makes me grin every time. PPS You got the good end of the deal, didn’t you?? The clean up is my least favourite part, but I can’t ever leave a sink full of dirty dishes! Sometimes I clean up 5 times a day, with the amount of cooking I do!!!
Made them again today, Nagi! This time I rolled dough a bit thicker and watched the baking time more carefully. Pics to come on Instagram after I fill them. Yum!
Ooh Marlene, please tag me so I make sure I see them! My Instagram handle is @recipe_tin <3
Another winner of a recipe, Magi! I made these to take for refreshments after a Friday evening Sabbath service at my synagogue. Oh, my, they disappeared so quickly, and everyone raved about them. I used a variety of fillings–homemade salted caramel sauce I had on hand, raspberry jam, raspberry chocolate buttercream. Everyone wanted caramel, and I didn’t have enough of those to please them. It certainly took me longer than 10 minutes to prep them. I made them smaller, 1.5″ to be bite-sized, so the rolling/cutting/transferring took way more time. I also added a bit more flour to make the dough easier to work with and move. My second cookie sheet looked better, as I got them out of the oven a bit sooner. Even at the smaller size, they took about 15 minutes (in a convection oven at 325F). At that size, I got 58 single cookies out of the recipe. I may have rolled them a bit thinner than yours; next time I will work on making them thicker and more even. That said, the results looked good and tasted even better. Someone thought I had bought mini-Milano cookies from Pepperidge Farm. (Perish the thought!! I had three different types of homemade goodies). Once she tasted the first one, the rush was on. I had none left to bring home to my husband (though I had saved the not-so pretty ones to fill for him). I will definitely make these again and if they come out well, will take pics for you.
Oh Marlene! I’m SO HAPPY they were such a hit! How fabulous to use a variety of fillings! And I really like the idea of making these bite sized too 🙂
What a compliment though, for someone to think you bought them! I would love to see photos! The easiest way to share them, I think, is on Instagram – my account is recipe_tin. 🙂 I love chatting to people on Instagram as much as I love seeing their photos of my recipes!!
Thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know everyone loved these!! N x
I tried this and don’t know what I did wrong but my mixture looked like butter icing and no dough :-(. I had to put blops of “icing” on a baking tray. It tastes great but was falling apart. Please help.
Petro, I am SO sorry, there was a MASSIVE typo in the recipe, it should be 2 cups of flour, not 1 cup. I have updated the recipe. I am so sorry, I feel terrible! I wish there was somehow I could make it up to you! Don’t suppose you live in Australia? Because if you do, I’d make up a batch of these for you and express courier them to you!! I am so sorry again, I feel terrible!
Quick, easy shortbread with caramel. What’s not to love ? They sure look so enticing … Would love to have a couple of this right now.
It’s morning tea time here so I am actually nibbling on one as I write this response!!