Back
ARG_Heart Shape Alfajor_Free_shutterstock_214675666

These little heart shaped cookies make a great gift for your Valentine and are really quick and easy to make. They’re sandwiched around a delicious filling of dulce de leche – one of Latin America’s favourite sweet treats.

  • Prep: 40 minutes
  • Cook: 10-15 minutes
  • Total time: 1 hour
  • Recipe serves: 25 cookies

Ingredients

  • 225g cornstarch
  • 390g flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 225g of butter
  • 112g powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Pisco (or Brandy)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 237ml (half pint) dulce de leche (found in specialist food stores or Latin markets)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
  2. Place cornstarch, flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix briefly.
  3. Cut butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Blend with your fingers until mixture is smooth
  4. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and Pisco or brandy, and mix with your hands until the dough is homogeneous and smooth. Add more Pisco or some water if dough is too crumbly - it should come together in a smooth ball.
  5. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  6. Roll out dough to 3/8" thickness. Cut out small heart shapes with knife or heart-shaped cutter.
  7. Place heart-shaped doughs on baking tray lined with parchment paper.
  8. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes until barely golden brown. Remove and allow to fully cool.
  9. Spread half the cookies with a generous spoon of dulce de leche and top with second cookie.
  10. Sprinkle tops with powdered sugar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Variation: You can also dip the finished cookies in melted dark or white chocolate then chill and serve. Or, you can even add red food colouring to the cookie dough for great looking red heart cookies!

Tailor-made holidays

Flexible, custom-made holidays to Latin America created to match your exact requirements: our tailor-made itineraries are as unique as the clients for whom they are designed.

Design my trip

Papagaio

Your edit for Latin American inspiration

Our exciting range of articles on Latin America explore everything from iconic destinations and lesser-known cultural gems to delicious traditional recipes. You’ll also find exclusive travel tips, first-hand client reviews and the chance to get your personal questions answered by our travel experts.

View Extraordinary Inspiration
Bartolome, Galápagos

Meet our team

Real Latin american experts

  • Sallly
    Sally Dodge - Travel Expert

    A former Journey Latin America tour leader, Sally spent 7 years working, travelling and living throughout Latin America before returning to the UK to help people arrange their own adventures to this wonderful destination.

  • Lina
    Lina Fuller - Travel Expert

    Lina's passion for the continent where she was born really took off when she moved to Córdoba (Argentina) to study, spending the holidays travelling between Argentina and her native Colombia.

  • Carrie
    Carrie Gallagher - Travel Expert

    A former JLA tour leader, Carrie brings a wealth of on-the-ground experience to our London-based Tailor-made and Group Tours department.

  • Maggie
    Maggie Wilson - Travel Expert

    Maggie visited Latin America on her first backpacking trip when she was 19. Since then, she has taken every opportunity to travel, and has managed to explore a lot of the region in subsequent trips.

  • Finn Clennett
    Finn Clennett - Travel Expert

  • Mary
    Mary Anne Nelson - Travel Expert

    Born in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, Mary’s insider knowledge and dry sense of humour make her a highly valued member of the Tailor-made Holidays and Group Tour sales team.

0 1 2 3 4 5