- July 11, 2020
- Desserts
Keto Alfajores- Maple Walnut Old Fashioned Infused Caramel Sandwich Cookie
The title may be wordy- but the cookie is WORTH it! These sugar free dulce de leche inspired low carb sandwich cookies take on the flavors of a bourbon old fashioned cocktail, infuse it with low carb caramel sauce, and smother it between two keto sugar cookies for the perfect indulgent low carb dessert!
I spent a handful of years living in the Miami area and soaked up as much South American style cuisine as I possibly could. Besides a delicious flan, I often think of a classic alfajor cookie as well. A traditional alfajor is a dulce de leche caramel sauce sandwiched between two shortbread cookies.
So how is this possibly keto? Well, if you’re asking then you clearly underestimate me my friends…
I paired these delicious 1 net carb keto sugar shortbread cookies with my easy to make keto caramel sauce to make the perfect keto alfajor cookie. Though I could keep it simple and stop right there, I had to take my love for cocktails and find a way to make this recipe my own. Thus the maple walnut old fashioned infusion that’s going on here!
Can I get a high five? A fist bump? OK, OK… I’ll settle for a five star recipe rating instead!
All joking aside, these almond flour based cookies are simple to make. With a little elbow grease and some helpful cookie tips and techniques you can be a keto dessert master in no time with these indulgent keto low carb sandwich cookies. Get all the details about the recipe below!
“School” Supplies:
- Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Cups/ Spoons
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet
- Whisk
- Small Pot
- Stand Mixer/ Electric Mixer or Food Processor
“Class” Notes:
What is an alfajore cookie?
A traditional alfajore is a dulce de leche filled shortbread cookie. How do we make that keto you ask? With the help of my favorite keto cookie recipe and this super simple low carb caramel sauce you can easily recreate this South American classic right at home for only a few net carbs.
How to make your keto shortbread cookie dough?
I’ve detailed the entire shortbread cookie recipe here in this blog post. The cookie dough comes together in a food processor or mixer by being beaten at medium speed in less than 10 minutes. This is an almond flour based cookie dough and does not sub well with other low carb flours like coconut flour for instance, so I cannot recommend a good sub for this if you have a nut allergy.
The base of this dough is your standard butter and sugar (I like monk fruit), eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the almond flour, baking powder and a little salt and you have the perfect keto shortbread. Roll the dough into parchment paper or plastic wrap.
The nice thing about these cookies is that even though they take some time to chill in the freezer, you don’t have to use a cookie cutter and continuously roll out dough. Simply slice, bake in 15 minutes or less, cool and they are ready to eat or to be filled with our maple walnut old fashioned caramel sauce!
How do I make keto caramel sauce?
Because I have a master post on my keto caramel sauce here, I won’t go into a ton of detail. Though a good chewy keto caramel sauce can be made in 20 minutes or less, there are a few things I want to highlight!
- Like my popular keto simple syrup recipe, this caramel works best with allulose. Allulose is a type of low carb sweetener that caramelizes and doesn’t recrystallize and get gritty and frankly, gross. So that means NO erythritol here and No monk fruit either. You can also try xylitol but I avoid this one particularly because I have pets and it’s extremely toxic to animals.
- Once all the ingredients have been added, avoid stirring the caramel! Let it cook, be patient, and scroll on Instagram and pick out your next recipe while you wait.
- Let it cool so its only just warm before adding to the cookies. If it’s too hot it will rub quite a bit. If you find it gets too cool, warm it up on half power in the microwave for 30 sec and stir to avoid the butter from separating!
How do I infuse the caramel to taste like a maple walnut old fashioned?
Have you ever had an old fashioned? Classically, the cocktail is bourbon, bitters, an orange peel and a crushed sugar cube). Take these flavors and add them to the caramel!
Specifically this maple walnut inspired infusion, I used 2 oz of bourbon, zest from an orange peel (this MAKES this caramel people), and a few dashes of walnut bitters (a little goes a long way) and a little maple extract.
Everything gets added at the beginning of the cooking process, except the orange peel. This helps preserve more of the natural oils so that orange flavor pops!
Pro Tip- The alcohol does cook off in this recipe, so not to worry about it being safe for all ages!
How do I fill the cookies?
Place a heaping tablespoon of caramel in the center of one cookie and then simply add another and lightly sandwich it together. If the caramel is too hot, it will ooze a bit and you could end up with a lot of dripping cookies. If you want the caramel to set a bit quicker, you can also pop the filled cookies into the fridge as well to help it cool.
Serving and Storing-
Serve the cookies just like this or with an old fashioned cocktail as well (because why the heck not). Sometimes I like to go the extra mile and dust them with a little low carb powdered sugar too for color. Store the cookies in the fridge or freezer as needed.
Have leftover caramel sauce? Try adding it to-
- Easy Keto No Churn Ice Cream
- Keto Peanut Butter Cookie Skillet
- Keto Turtle Candies
- Keto Marble Pound Cake
Bon Appeteach,
-L
Keto Alfajores- Maple Walnut Old Fashioned Infused Caramel Sandwich Cookie
Equipment
Ingredients
- [1 batch Keto Shortbread Sugar Cookies]
- 1 cup Allulose
- 1 Stick of Butter
- 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 2 oz. Bourbon
- 2 dashes Walnut Bitters
- 1 tsp Maple Extract
- 2 tbsp. Orange Zest
Instructions
- Make a batch of keto shortbread sugar cookie dough. Roll the dough into the parchment paper and secure the ends. Place it in the freezer for 45-60 minutes and then slice into 1/4 inch rounds. Bake at 350 F for 11-13 minutes on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Let them cool slightly on the pan and finish cooling on a cookie rack.
- Once cookies are cool, make your keto caramel sauce. After melting the butter and letting it brown slightly, add in the allulose, vanilla, bourbon, bitters, and maple extract. Whisk until dissolved, then add in the heavy cream. Let the mixture sit on medium heat and bring it to a simmer. DO NOT STIR until it darkens in color and cooks down. This will take roughly 15-20 minutes. Whisk in the orange zest and remove from the heat to cool to lukewarm.
- To make the alfajore, add about a tablespoon of caramel to one cookie and press the other one down against it to sandwich and spread the caramel. Let them set at room temperature or in the fridge.