The Shared Table

What will you need

Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup corn starch, sifted
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract + 1 tablespoon powdered sugar for garnish

Step by step

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a shallow baking dish. Cover with foil. And place dish in a larger baking dish. Fill it up with water so it reaches half way up the sides. Transfer to the oven to bake for 1 1/2 hours, until golden caramel in color. Carefully remove the foil and mix until smooth.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl combine flour, corn starch, powdered sugar and salt. In a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment (you could also do this with a hand-mixer), add the butter and vanilla extract; beat for 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the egg yolk and then add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Shape into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
3. On a heavily floured surface, roll the dough into 1/2-inch thickness. The dough will be a little sticky so be sure to flour everything liberally. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cutter, stamp out shortbread cookies and place on a baking sheet. Using a fork, poke the center of each cookie making a series of three holes.
4. Transfer cookies to the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are slightly golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. To assemble the sandwich cookies, lay half of the shortbread cookies bottom-side up. Drop small dollops (about 1/2 teaspoon) of manjar blanco/dulce de leche on half of the cookies that are sitting bottom-side up. Top with the other half of cookies and lightly press down until you’ve worked your way through all of the cookies. If you like, you can roll the cookies on their sides in powdered sugar or you can simply dust them.