Deep, dark chocolate butter cookies. Rich, creamy dulce de leche. Put them together and you get these not-too-sweet chocolate dulce de leche cookies!

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cookies

I thought these dulce de leche cookies would make a great Cinco de Mayo dessert. They are not Hispanic in origin at all, but it has dulce de leche! So that sort of counts, right?

Aside from Cinco de Mayo, these cookies are delicious anytime you want a decadent treat. Dark chocolate combined with the slight burnt-sugar taste of dulce de leche is outrageous. Add a sprinkle of sea salt if you love salted caramel desserts!

The cookie part of these sandwiches is adapted from the sugar cookies at Sweetapolita. If you’re like me, you have hundreds of pins (if not more) that you saved to Pinterest at one time or another, yet haven’t tried. This is one of those pins that I’m finally trying!

Dessert recipes especially tend to pile up. After all, dinner has to be made every night, but desserts are in moderation! Nevertheless, I love to go back to my boards every so often and pick a recipe I’ve never tried before. Helps with weekly menu planning as well!

I tested these cookies two ways for this recipe. 1) Rolling out the dough and using a cooking cutter versus 2) The slice and bake method.

Using a cookie cutter was prettier (see the scalloped edges in the pictures?), but the slice and bake method is way faster!

I also tested 1/4-inch and 1/8-inch thick cookies. I found I liked the thin cookies better. They had a crisper texture and better dulce de leche-to-cookie ratio.

Another thing I always wanted to try was making dulce de leche by boiling sweetened condensed milk in a can. Although it takes more time than making caramel from scratch (which you have to watch), I love that’s it’s mostly hands-off.

And when you open the can of milk, it has magically turned into dulce de leche! There is a wonderful tutorial here about the different stages and shades of dulce de leche. I will definitely be using it more in the future!

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Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cookies

Yield: 24

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Dark chocolate sugar cookies sandwiched together with dulce de leche.

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Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:

• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk or store-bought dulce de leche

Instructions

For the cookies:

1. In large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg, then add the vanilla.
3. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined.
4. Divide dough in half and roll into 2 logs, about 2 inches wide. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate or freeze until thoroughly chilled.
5. Preheat oven to 325°F and line pans with silicon mats or parchment paper. Slice cookies 1/8-1/4 inch rounds and bake for 12-15 minutes until set and edges are crisp. Allow to cool on pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.
6. Alternatively, dough may be rolled out and cut into rounds with a cookie cutter.

For the dulce de leche:

1. Remove paper label from can of sweetened condensed milk. Place whole can in a pot with deep sides and cover completely with water. There should be at least an inch of water above the can.
2. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for approximately 2.5 hours. As water evaporates, add additional water so that the can is always submerged.
3. After 2.5 hours, remove the can with tongs and allow to cool before opening.
4. Once cooled completely, spread on the bottom of half the cookies and then top with remaining cookies to form a sandwich.

Notes

Prep/cook time given is for cookies and does not include time required for chilling.

Did you make this recipe?

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