dulce de leche filled butter cookies

Well I know it's been a while since I've blogged, and it's been entirely circumstantial... now that I'm in my second trimester (yes, I'm pregnant with my second child!) I'm starting to feel a little better and food is actually tasting and smelling good again. So now I'm back with a stellar recipe that should be made in earnest.

Years ago when I subscribed (and they still printed) Gourmet Magazine, I ripped this recipe out and saved it. I had never tried dulce de leche before, but I was intrigued by how easy and delicious these cookies looked. The first time I made them (maybe 5 years ago?) I had found a jar of dulce de leche at William's Sonoma and served the cookies after a dinner party. We were all hooked by the thin, delicate cookies and the creamy dulce del leche...needless to say these cookies are special and stayed ingrained in my memory as something to repeat. Recently I was at Trader Joe's and found a jar of dulce de leche, which inspired me to make these cookies again and share them here!

The dough is not overly sweet, which allows for a generous filling of dulce de leche and dusting of confectioners' sugar. The cookies, by themselves, are simple and unassuming, but filled with the dulce de leche they soften and crumble into the filling becoming one glorious bite after another. My sister recently made this recipe but filled the cookies with Nutella (which were also incredible, although I still prefer the dulce de leche) but really any jam or nut butter would be great with these.

keeps gettin' better

I've made this cake twice in the past month because it's that good. It's a cake that just gets more moist and flavorful over a couple of days, unlike a typical cake which gets dry and drier.

And that's why this is a perfect cake to serve during the holiday season. I mean, how wonderful would your life be if you knew guests were coming, you whipped this up the night before, knowing that you could serve this the next day with confidence? Or what if you are attending a pot luck, or giving some as a gift? It travels beautifully because the icing hardens, so it's not like a smear-able buttercream frosting.

one giant pancake

When Kent and I were first married, I tore this recipe out of Gourmet Magazine because I liked the simplicity of it. It stated that it served 2, which is very hard to find when there really is just two of you eating (although it really serves 4). We both fell in love with the soft, eggy texture and crispy brown edges, and I (over)cooked the apples so they'd be soft too.

Sautéing the apples in butter gets this recipe off to a great start. Then the batter is blitzed in the blender and poured into the buttery apples and the whole pan is placed in the oven until the pancake is puffed and golden. Couldn't be easier or tastier.