COOKIE BLANCO RECIPES

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
• Add the egg yolks and beat with a mixer until smooth.
• In another mixing bowl, use a fine strainer to sift the flour and cornstarch together. Also (Add the fresh aniseed here if desired)
• Add the fresh aniseed if desired
• Transfer the butter, sugar and vanilla extract mixture to the flour and cornstarch bowl
• Knead until the dough has a uniform texture.
• Shape into a big ball and let it rest for 10 minutes in the fridge.
• Sprinkle a little flour on the clean counter-top surface.
• Use a bread roller, roll out the ball of dough until it’s about ½ inch thick. You should have 10-15 round cookies to bake, so it might be necessary to use two oven trays or dishes to bake them all in one go.
• Use the cookie cutters or a glass to cut circles of dough, about 3 inches wide.
• Place a baking sheet on your metal tray, or use a glass dish, sprinkle with flour and place the cookies with a couple of inches between them. With a fork, make a few holes in the center of each cookie to avoid the dough to break or rise too much when baking.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 F (175 C) for 20 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, ensuring you remove them very carefully from the tray since these cookies can break quite easily. Wait for 30 mins until completely cool and finish your alfajores by topping half of them with manjar blanco at room temperature, and placing another cookie on top.
• Using a strainer, sprinkle the powdered sugar over the alfajores. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee and try to stay close to the suggested serving size of 2 cookies per person!

Steps:

• Place American cheese and about 1/4 cup half-and-half in a saucepan over low heat; cook and stir until cheese starts to melt, about 5 minutes. Slowly start stirring half-and-half into cheese mixture, about 2 tablespoons at a time, until cheese begins to melt and mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes more. Continue adding more half-and-half.
• Season cheese mixture with cumin, black pepper, and salt; add red pepper flakes, a little at a time, until desired spiciness is reached.
• Cook and stir cheese dip until cheese is fully melted, adding more half-and-half if needed to thin it out, 5 to 10 minutes more. Remove from heat and top dip with chili powder.