This week is all about cutting and rolling cookie dough.
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 | | Week 2: Learning to Cut and Roll Cookie Dough with Caramel Sandwich Cookies | | Imagine biting into a blissfully decadent, melt-in-your-mouth cookie sandwich filled with creamy dulce de leche caramel—all rolled in a cloud of chewy coconut. The crisp cookie is a dramatic contrast to its gooey, soft filling. As the sandwich sits, it softens, melding with the filling and developing a cake-like texture. We can't wait to get into the recipe. But first, let's dive into everything cutting and rolling cookie dough. | | The most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to making cut-out cookies, is that chilling the dough and keeping it chilled throughout the rolling and cutting process is key to achieving a perfect cut. Too-warm dough will glom onto your work surface, making it very difficult to transfer your shapes onto a baking sheet. | | There are a few different ways to achieve the right dough temperature. The most common is to chill the dough in the refrigerator. But my go-to method is to incorporate small (1 tbsp) pieces of cold butter into my butter-sugar mixture when I cream it. That way, I can go straight from the bowl to rolling—no chilling time required. | | Then, I lightly flour my surface and roll out the dough. I like using a shaker sifter to control the amount of flour I use. My favorite rolling pin makes it super easy to get the exact dough thickness I want. When I'm ready to cut out my shapes, I dip the cutting edge of the cookie cutter into flour. It makes for cleaner cuts and prevents dough from sticking to the edges. You can always use a pastry brush to remove excess flour from the dough. | | A few things to remember throughout the rolling and cutting process: | - Cut shapes close together to minimize dough scraps
- Press firmly and lift straight back up without twisting or sliding cutter
- Feel free to re-roll scraps, but only once
- Repeatedly rolling out dough will overwork it and make for tough cookies
| | As you get more comfortable making cookies from scratch, you'll figure out which methods you like best. This is, after all, a journey that's all your own. | | Next week: how ingredient ratios determine the kind of cookie you end up with. Today: tender, chewy, gooey alfajores. Don't forget to let us know how they turned out in the comments section of our recipe page! | | | | | | | | | | |
 | - 1 3/4 cups cornstarch
- 120 grams (about 1 cup) all-purpose flour, more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (8-ounces) room-temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons pisco, or brandy, more as needed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup homemade or store-bought dulce de leche
- 1/2 cup sweetened shredded dried coconut
| | | | | | | | Let's Make Some Chewy, Gooey Alfajore | | | 1. Place the cornstarch, flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix to combine. | | | | | | 2. Add butter to the flour mixture, blending with your fingers until the mixture is smooth (see note in Step 3 about using a stand mixer as an alternative). | | | | | | 3. Add the powdered sugar, pisco, and vanilla. Combine with your hands until a smooth dough forms. Add another tablespoon or two of pisco if the dough is too crumbly to form a ball. Alternatively, use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed; this will cut the prep time down by about half. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap, and let the dough rest, refrigerated, for 30 minutes. | | | | | | 4. Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350 F. Lightly flour a work surface. Roll out dough to 3/8" thickness, and cut into 2-inch circles. Combine and re-roll the scraps, continuing to cut cookies until the dough is finished. | | | | | | 5. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. | | | | | | 6. Bake cookies one sheet at a time until the edges begin to turn golden brown, rotating the tray halfway through for 15 to 17 minutes total. Let cookies cool 5 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely. | | | | | | 7. To fill the cookies, spread one cookie with dulce de leche. | | | | | | 8. Top with a second cookie to make a sandwich. Roll the edges in the coconut, sprinkling more over the edges if the coconut doesn't adhere easily. | | | | | | | | | | More Cookie Recipes to Try | | | | | | | | | | | The Spruce Eats on YouTube | | | | | | | | | This Week's Baking Essentials | | | | | |
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