Colleen James

Category: Traditions

  • Alfajores Marplatenses (an Argentine Cookie)

    Pictures of the alfajores!

    There was no Christmas cookie competition this year, which was a bit of a disappointment. At the same time, it was a relief to not have any restrictions placed upon me for my cookie inspiration this year.

    This time around, I opted to try to find a recipe online for a cookie that is undoubtedly my husband’s favorite. The cookie is known as an alfajor (al-fa-HOR), and it is a sandwich cookie consisting of two shortbread cookies and a dulce de leche filling. While there are several versions of this dessert, the one my husband loves most and that I set out to make this year was a chocolate version, which meant making chocolate shortbread cookies and then coating the entire dulce-de-leche-filled sandwich cookie in chocolate. Yum!

    After searching for recipes and finding an authentic one, I came to learn that this particular version is called an alfajor marplatense. I further came to learn, according to my husband, that this cookie comes from the coastal city Mar de Plata, Argentina. So, there’s your geography lesson for today! 😉

    My husband’s father was from Argentina, and JJ lived there for three years as a child, so this cookie is more than just a yummy treat for our family. It’s part of keeping JJ’s cultural heritage alive.

    The recipe I followed is a video of a woman from Argentina named Isabel Vermal making these cookies step by step. If you speak Spanish, I encourage you to follow along with her to make your own. Her accent is delightful and easy to understand, and she explains the process well. You can watch her video here: Alfajores Marplatenses with Isabel Vermal.

    Otherwise, I have translated the ingredients and instructions below. I also converted the ingredients from grams to cups, but I will include the measurements in grams for each ingredient below as well, for those of you who would prefer to follow those measurements with a food scale.

    Lastly, I made these cookies a little under half the size that the creator made hers, which yielded me a over 25 cookies to her 12. These cookies are so rich that I felt that a smaller size would be more suitable for my family and me. My cookies are roughly 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter to her 3 inches. Because of this, the baking time is less than what it would be for the bigger cookies. Also, because this recipe yielded more for me, I needed to compensate for the amount of dulce de leche and chocolate. I will include both the original amounts and baking time alongside my adjusted amounts and baking time.

    These cookies are a bit time consuming, but completely worth the hassle! With a hint of orange, creamy dulce de leche, and a rich chocolate coating, these cookies make for a great teacher’s gift, Christmas party dessert, or cookie for a Christmas cookie exchange!

    If you make them, let me know what you think! You may just find that your family is begging you to make these each Christmas, much like mine will be doing with me!

    Alfajores Marplatenses

    Ingredients:

    • 2/3 c unsalted butter, softened (150 g)
    • ¼ c granulated sugar (50 g)
    • 2 T c honey (50 g)
    • Zest of ½ lemon
    • Zest of ½ orange
    • 1 egg
    • 1 t vanilla
    • 2 ¼ c cake flour (250 g)
    • ½ c cornstarch (50 g)
    • 1 scant teaspoon baking powder (5 g)
    • ½ t baking soda (2 g)
    • 2 T cocoa powder (20 g)
    • 3 c dulce de leche*
    • 5 c semi-sweet chocolate chips*
    • 2/3 c edible cocoa butter*

    Instructions:

    1. Mix together the butter, sugar, honey, and zest of lemon and orange with a hand beater, then add the egg and vanilla and blend again.
    2. Sift the cake flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a separate mixing bowl, then stir until well combined.
    3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
    4. Roll out the dough on plastic wrap over a clean surface until a quarter inch thick. Cover the top with additional plastic wrap until the dough is completely covered, then place in the refrigerator for an hour (leaving the dough overnight may alter the dough’s taste).
    5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
    6. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut out into circles to place on the baking sheets.
    7. While cooling, whip the dulce de leche to make light and fluffy.
    8. Once the cookies are cooled, place a dollop of dulce de leche on the concave part of the cookie, then add another cookie on top (both flat parts should be facing outward). Set in the freezer while preparing the chocolate.
    9. To prepare the chocolate, place a heat-safe bowl or pot inside a pot of hot water over medium low heat. Add the chocolate chips to the pot and stir until melted.
    10. Add the edible cocoa butter and stir to combine. Remove from heat.
    11. Remove the cookies from the freezer and fill in any gaps of filling with extra dulce de leche so that the dulce de leche filling is even with the cookies’ edges.
    12. Dip the cookie into the chocolate and cover completely, then set on parchment paper to cool and harden completely. Enjoy!

    *The original recipe calls for 1 c (300 g) dulce de leche repostero (a thicker dulce de leche) and ½ c (150 g) original dulce de leche. If you have the option of buying both a lighter and thicker dulce de leche, then do so by all means! Otherwise, use whatever dulce de leche is available at your store.

    I also added more chocolate chips and cocoa butter as a result of needing more to cover my cookies completely. The original recipe calls for 3 ½ c (600 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/3 c (60 g) edible cocoa butter. I bought my cocoa butter online. If you are unable to obtain cocoa butter, you can substitute coconut oil or butter.

    Lastly, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! Praise God for the gift of His Son!

    For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

    Isaiah 9:6

  • Argentina-Style Empanadas

    Crispy, savory pastry meets seasoned, slightly sweet beef in this dish, with extra bursts of sweetness from the raisins throughout, and a surprise bite of hard-boiled egg and a tangy green olive.

    Several months after JJ and I got married, we had the opportunity to visit his parents in the hometown where he grew up. Other than wanting to spend quality time with his immediate and extended family, we didn’t have a lot of expectations for our visit. We did have one main goal, however—to learn how to make empanadas from JJ’s father.

    JJ and I had very distinct reasons as to why we wanted to learn, although equally as strong desires. For JJ, it was a beloved dish reminiscent of special moments throughout his childhood. I wanted to learn, on the other hand, because making authentic empanadas from my Argentine father-in-law was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

    Although JJ’s father was not too excited about the long, laborious process of teaching us how to make this main course, he conceded to our request, and we were soon learning how to make this tasty dish.

    The empanadas that JJ and I formed that day were nothing near lovely, but they were delicious. Enough so, in fact, that JJ and I decided to try our hand at them again for our first Christmas together as a married couple several months later. JJ pulled up the short clips he had recorded from our empanada-making session with his dad, and I got out my notes with rough estimates of each ingredient used.

     It was quite the process for us to form and fry the empanadas, but several hours later, we had a heaping bowl full of these tasty, golden treats, and our tradition of making empanadas during the Christmas season began.

    Since learning how to make empanadas, I have noticed that there are other Argentine empanada recipes online. Some are similar to the ones that we make with a few additional ingredients, and some are different altogether. Nonetheless, the recipe below is what JJ’s father taught us, and it is the one that we love and that we will pass on to our son as he grows. We hope it will stay in the family for many generations to come.

    If you make these empanadas, please let me know how they turn out. I hope you like them as much as my family and I do. Who knows? Perhaps they will even become a new family tradition of your own.

    ARGENTINA-STYLE EMPANADAS

    Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 ½ t paprika
1 t crushed red pepper 
1½ T taco seasoning mix
1 to 1 ½ T sugar, according to desired sweetness
1/3 c raisins
2 hard-boiled eggs, cut into small cubes (around 12-15 pieces per egg)
Small jar green olives (one green olive per empanada)
2 packages Discos Goya*(thawed in refrigerator overnight)
Oil for frying

    Instructions:

    Brown the beef and drain its grease.  Return to low heat and add the paprika, crushed red pepper, taco seasoning mix, and sugar and mix well. Stir in the raisins and remove from heat. Place a couple of tablespoons of the meat mixture into the middle of the disco Goya. Add a piece of hard-boiled egg and one olive to each, then fold the dough in half. Make a crease along the opened end, then pinch the dough along the crease line to ensure complete closure of the empanada.

    Heat up enough oil in a frying pan for the empanadas to float above the bottom of the pan. Flip each empanada after 30-60 seconds, or once the side submerged in oil is golden. Fry the other side until golden, then place on a plate lined with a paper towel to allow to cool slightly. Makes 20 empanadas.

    NOTES: If you are not familiar with discos Goya, I recommend searching for them in the frozen section of ethnic food at your local Walmart. If you do not have a local Walmart and/or simply do not have access to discos Goya where you live, the following website provides a fairly simple recipe for making them: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/how-to-make-empanada-dough/. Please keep in mind, however, that I cannot attest to the taste of these discos nor their similarity to discos Goya since I have always been fortunate enough to find discos Goya at the store.

    To make a healthier version of this dish, use lean ground beef, lightly brush the dough with oil, and bake until golden.

    AIR FRYER OPTION:

    Lightly brush each empanada with oil, then bake in the air fryer in segments at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes, flipping over when halfway through.

  • The Best of 2020

    I have kept a cookie tin on top of my refrigerator for a good chunk of the year. It has come down a number of times throughout these last eight months, but only long enough for me to jot down a note or two to toss into the tin among the growing pile of past notes.

    Collecting these scribblings has been a spin-off of a tradition that I have held for years. In the past, I have written the best of each year in the form of a list—one that often includes experiences, events, celebrations, visits with family, any trips taken, and even more minor details such as new songs I’ve heard that I’ve liked. The list includes anything and everything that made the year special to me.

     I used to compile this list at the end of December each year, but more recently, I have started making it over Thanksgiving weekend, adding the events and experiences of December as the weeks leading up to New Year’s Eve have passed by. I’ve discovered that this weekend in particular is the perfect time to make the list for me, as it makes me more deeply aware of how generous God has been throughout the year, thus causing my heart to overflow with gratitude.

    By mid-March, I recognized that the upcoming months would provide a difficult journey ahead, so I rummaged around the cupboard for the cookie tin and set off to starting my list in real-time, backdating the events and best moments of January and February to include in the container.

    As the months have passed by, the tin has become a mound of colorful rectangles of paper—each one a testimony of God’s goodness and generosity in my life.

    This Thanksgiving weekend, I plan to make myself a cup of decaf coffee or tea one evening after I get my son to bed, then I’ll take down the cookie tin and read each note, reminiscing over all the “bests” of this year. And once again, my heart will overflow with gratitude as I consider God’s kindness to me and His ever-present goodness, even in the midst of a year full of turmoil.

    As we quickly approach the end of 2020, I want to encourage you to make a list of your own “bests” from this year as well. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just grab a piece of paper and start by listing whatever favorite moments come to mind. Next, take some time to think about each month and consider the best experiences from each one. Consult your calendar, day planner, journal, or even your social media account to jog your memory if you need to. Or ask family members what they remember or liked best about this year. It doesn’t really matter how you do it. What matters is remembering the special moments of this year and recognizing that not all was lost, nor was all of it bad. God’s presence has been with us as we have experienced the challenges and difficulties of this year, and He has still been kind and generous to us in the midst of it all.

    For some of us, this has been the hardest year the world has seen in our lifetime. But if we take the time to sit down and list all the blessings God has bestowed upon us in this year, we may just see how beautiful it has also been. We may very well state what David stated in the Psalms:

    “You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.”

    Psalm 65:11