SPANISH COOKIES WITH DULCE DE LECHE RECIPES

Steps:

• Mix flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a bowl. Place butter in a separate bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until soft and fluffy. Add white sugar and vanilla and mix well.
• Add flour mixture to the bowl with the butter mixture in 3 stages; mix until just blended. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a log. Refrigerate dough logs until firm, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Slice dough logs into 1/4-inch cookies and place on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until just starting to turn golden around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely, about 30 minutes more.
• Use a knife to apply a generous amount of dulce de leche on one cookie. Sandwich another cookie on top and place on a serving tray. Repeat with remaining cookies and dulce de leche. Lightly dust finished cookies with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Place racks in the upper and lower thirds of an oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper. 
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda, and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tahini and mix on medium speed until well combined, stopping to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.
• Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and salt to the butter-tahini mixture, and mix on medium speed until emulsified, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the dough is evenly mixed.
• Add the flour mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the dough is evenly mixed.
• Roll the cookies into tablespoon-size balls and place them on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
• Bake the cookies for 7 minutes, then remove them from the oven and very carefully use your thumb or the handle of a wooden spoon to make a teaspoon-size indent in the center of each cookie. The cookies will crack slightly along the edges; that’s OK. Return the cookies to the oven, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom. Bake until the cookies are set and just barely golden at the edges, another 5 to 7 minutes. Set the pans on cooling racks and press on the indentations slightly if they have puffed up during the baking process. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes. 
• Use a small spoon or pastry bag to fill the indentation of each cookie with about 1 teaspoon of dulce de leche, and sprinkle with flaky salt, if using. Let cool completely on the pans. Store in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 5 days.