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Alfajores are smooth and crumbly sandwich cookies that have a sweet filling and a coating of chocolate, icing or powdered sugar. Although the most common filling is dulce de leche, Alfajores come in many variations such as fruits or chocolate mousse.

Alfajores are the most popular cookies in Argentina and are eaten at any time of the day – for breakfast with coffee or tea, as a sweet snack between meals or for dessert after dinner.

Where Does The Name “Alfajor” Come From?

Alfajores made their way to Argentina through the Spanish colonialization. Before they had been introduced to Spain by the Arabs during their conquest of Andalusia.

However, the traditional Argentinian sandwich cookies as we know them today have nothing in common with their hispano-arabic counterparts as they changed completely because of the lack of ingredients and habits in South America. Only the name was meant to stay the same.

Alfajores, Argentinian sandwich cookies, with chocolate coating from Havanna brand

Due to the origin of the Alfajor and the different cultural influences, there are several possible derivations of its name. The closest in describing the cookie may be the hispano-arabic “al-hasú” meaning “the filled one”. However there are others such as the Arabic “alfahua” which means honeycomb or the Castilian “alajú” which comes from the Arabic word “al- fakhur”.

Where To Get Your Dose Of Alfajores

In Argentina, you can basically find homemade Alfajores on every street corner. Apart from this, brands such as Havanna also sell very popular ready-made cookies in many variations. The pastry company sells them in their chain of cafés as well as in any supermarket or kiosk.

You may either order a pack of  Havanna Alfajores online or simply try to make them yourselves with our delicous recipe:

 

 


Find more food and drinks from Argentina here.


Images:
Alfajores de Maicena by Rebecca T. Caro, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Havanna Alfajores by David, licensed under CC BY 2.0