Tuesday, March 23, 2010

TWD: Dulce de Leche Duos





Jodie of Beansy Loves Cake decided on Dulce de Leche Duos for TWD this week. I am thrilled to bits with this recipe. They were a huge hit with my son too. He's not much of a cookie eater but he polished one of these off in no time at all! Our grocery store gives kids free chocolate chip cookies but he always turns the offer down. Thanks Jodie for an amazing selection - one that I will be making again and again.

I filled half of them with chocolate ganache and the other half with dulce de leche. Both were equally yummy. This was the perfect opportunity to use my homemade dulce de leche - made in the slow cooker. Click here for the "how to". It couldn't be easier or more rewarding. Really. It's the most impressive thing that's come out of my slow cooker.





The buttery cookies (even sans filling) are fantastic. Once in the oven, they 'magically' transfrom from cookie dough blobs into beautifully round circles. Make sure you leave enough room for them to spread because boy do they ever. Baking them on a silicone mat ensures that the bottoms don't get too crisp and also makes for easy removal. These tender cookies are slightly sweet - the perfect canvas for a multitude of different fillings. I did both chocolate-frosting filled and dulce de leche filled. Can't decide which ones I prefer. Next time (and there will definitely be a next time), I'll try a whipped cream cheese frosting. Yum!

For once I don't recommend underbaking them because they need a bit of structure to support the filling. If they are too soft on the bottom as some of mine were, they are a little trickier to fill.

I know, I know, we aren't supposed to post the recipe here for TWD, but I just had to make an exception and share it here because I loved these so much.

Dulce De Leche Duos
Makes 24 sandwich cookies | Dorie Greenspan

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup store-bought dulce de leche, plus more for filling
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Getting ready: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed until soft. Add the Dulce de Leche and both sugars and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Don't be concerned if the mixture looks a little curddled, it will smooth out when the flour mixture is added. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter.

Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets, using a heaping teaspoon of dough for each cookie and leaving 2 inches between them.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be honey brown with a light sugar crust, but they will be soft, so remove the sheets from the oven but don't touch the cookies for another minute or two. Then, using a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure you cool the baking sheets before spooning the dough onto them.

When the cookies are completely cool, spread the flat bottoms of half the cookies with a small amount of dulce de leche, and sandwich with the flat sides of the remaining cookies.

40 comments:

Nickki said...

Wow, your cookies look delicious! I love the colour of your dulce de Leche, next time I'm definitely going to try the slow cooker method :-)

Paula said...

Chocolate ganache for the filling? Oh my, that DOES sound good. I'm going to try the Ddl in a crockpot the next time I need some instead of chasing all over town to find it.

chocolatechic said...

I must have done something terribly wrong, because mine look nothing like anyone elses.

Teanna said...

Your cookies came out perfectly! Mine were super thin but I still loved them!

Deeva said...

Your close ups would make a diabetic go into shock with all the sweet goodness. Great looking cookies.

CB said...

Thanks for the dulce de leche in a crockpot tip! That's what I did for my cookies (gave you props in my blog!) and it worked great.
-CB
http://iheartfood4thought.com

Katrina said...

My cookies were pretty soft, but they look just like yours. (I wish there was a picture in the book for every recipe.) Love the chocolate! I did some with chocolate, too. I actually played around quite a bit.
Glad you liked them so much, they look great.

Mary said...

Glad you and your son loved these! They look great, and I'm a bit jealous that they spread into circles. Mine didn't spread one bit!

Bella Baker said...

your cookies look fantastic and so glad your son loved them so much!! I must try to make my own dulce like you did!!!

Flourchild said...

How nice that your son loved them! My kids gobbled them down in no time! Didn't you just love making the DDL right in the can..so easy and so good! I agree with you on the multiple toppings you could put on these cookies!

Jencrafted said...

Tia, I'm definitely going to try your slow-cooker method the next time! I love the shade of your DDL - mine's too light I think.
Wonderful work as always! And these are so addictive! So did you finish all your cookies?! :-)

Anne said...

Glad to hear these were a hit for your house- they looks beautiful!

Valerie Gamine said...

Whipped cream cheese frosting would be wonderful in these. Your dulce de leche looks so dark and yummy! I could eat that stuff by the spoonful.

mike said...

I thought your crock method was genius! Thanks so much for posting that. These look fantastic - love the chocolate / caramel combo - and I agree, they did need a little overbaking! Nicely done!

Jacque said...

Your dulce de leche looks heavenly! Nice cookies too.

Joanne said...

I have seen these everywhere today but I'm pretty sure I am in love with them. Yours seem to have come out the crispiest of those I've seen - congrats! And I'm loving the homemade dulce de leche!

Kimberly Johnson said...

Both your cookies and your DLL look fantastic! I agree - this was the best thing to come out of my slow cooker in a looooong time.

Pam said...

Yum! They look great! And I can only imagine how good they taste. Just wish there was a way to get samples around here!

Leslie said...

Great looking cookies, Tia! You're making me wish I wasn't such a baby about cooking the unopened can of sweetened condensed milk!

alvarosa said...

You can really talk somebody (read: me :o]) into doing Dulche the Leche yourself! Sounds so amazing. Definitely have to try that!

Justin said...

these look surprisingly simple for something so tasty

natalia said...

Wonderful cookies and photos !

Monica said...

I over baked mine as well... when I took them out after the 12 min baking time mentioned in the book, they were way undercooked.

At then end mine came out like yours a deep golden brown.

Jennifer said...

Your cookies look beautiful!!!!!

Cakelaw said...

Your cookies look fab - I loved them. Perhaps I should invest in a slow cooker ...

Rambling Tart said...

Mmm, mmm, pure comfort in a cookie. :-)

Susan said...

I will have to try the crock pot trick. Great looking cookies!

Jodie said...

I'm so glad you and your boy liked them!! Your DDL pics look so yummy. Thanks for baking with me!

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing the crockpot tip - I used that method and it worked perfectly :) Your cookies look fabulous!

Amanda said...

Ooohhh those look fabulous! I had to do a rewind this week, didn't have the ingredients. Still want to make them though!

Anonymous said...

Your cookies look wonderful, and chocolate filling sounds great! I didn't try the slow cooker method this time, but I will next time. I already had your post bookmarked!

Meg said...

Your cookies look so yummy! Thanks for the crock pot idea...that was awesome!!

Cathy said...

Glad these were a hit! They look fabulous. I definitely need to try making Dulce de leche in the slow cooker next time!

jill said...

These were a huge hit at my house, also! Yours look fabulous.

Marthe said...

I took mine out of the oven at 12 minutes and they were crunchy... Still tasted good though!

Heather Davis said...

Your pics are great. Love the way you show them separated with the caramel in the middle. It's always nice when you bake something the kiddies like. I so often get the no thanks!

TeaLady said...

These were really good, weren't they. I filled some with dulce and froze the rest. Maybe I will fill with ganache when I thaw them.

Great pics.

Erin @ The Sweet Life said...

Yum! I had planned to use your slow-cooker dulce de leche method, but I have one of the oblong slow-cookers, so I couldn't get my cans covered up enough with water! I had to cook it in the oven, but I guess I didn't cook it long enough because it was light and still too "milky" tasting. I ended up using store-bought. Thanks for the tip, though!

margot said...

Your cookies look great! Is it wrong to want a slow cooker just so I can make DDL? You're not kidding about leaving room on the baking sheet, I had a couple that were actual duos.

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

I am going to have to try the slow cooker version. Love the photos of the cookies! Yum!