Alfajores De Maicena (caramel-filled Coconut Cookies) Recipe

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (G). With an electric mixer, beat
the butter and sugar together at high speed until the mixture is
light and fluffy. Then beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Reduce
the speed to medium, combine the flour, cornstarch and baking powder,
and slowly sift them into the egg mixture; continue beating until the
mixture is smooth. (To make the dough by hand, cream the butter and
sugar together by mashing and beating them against the sides of the
bowl with a large spoon until fluffy. Then add the egg, egg yolk and
vanilla, and continue to beat until smooth. Combine the flour,
cornstarch and baking powder, and sift into the egg mixture a little
at a time, beating well after each addition.)
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with
your hands for about 3 minutes, or until it is smooth and somewhat
elastic. Form the dough into a large ball, then roll it out on a
lightly floured board into a rough circle about 1/8 inch thick. With
a 2 inch cookie cutter or the rim of a glass, cut the dough into as
many rounds as you can. Then gather the remaining scraps of dough
into a ball, again roll it into a circle, and cut into rounds as
before.
Arrange the rounds on 2 lightly buttered cookie sheets and bake in
the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies are
firm but still white. Transfer them to a cake rack to cool. Spread
the underside of half the cookies with previously made and cooled
natillas piuranas, spreading it to the edges with a metal spatula.
Top with the remaining cookies and roll the sandwiches cartwheel
fashion through the grated coconut so that the coconut shreds adhere
to the filling.

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