Cheater’s Alfajores

Step 1

Remove the label from the can of sweetened condensed milk and discard. Place the can in the crock of the slow cooker and fill it with water until the can is completely submerged with water covering the top of the can. Set your slow cooker on high for 6 hours.

Step 2

At the end of 6 hours, turn the slow cooker off. If you're in a hurry, you can immediately remove the can from the crock using tongs and submerge it in a bowl of room temperature water. When the can is cool to the touch, you can open it with a can opener. Another way I like to do it when I have a little more time is to turn off the slow cooker and let the water come to room temperature before removing the lid and the can from the water.

Step 3

Once you open the can, you'll see that the silky sweetened condensed milk has turned into a beautiful brown dulce de leche. The consistency will be a little thicker, which makes it perfect for sandwiching with shortbread cookies because it won't be runny.

Step 4

Place a generous dollop of dulce de leche in the middle of one cookie and press another cookie on top. Make sure not to overfill them or the dulce de leche will ooze out the sides and make a mess. Ideally, the dulce de leche should just peek out. If you like, roll the edges of the cookie through finely shredded coconut which will stick to the dulce de leche.

Step 5

You can store any leftover dulce de leche in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to six weeks. If you want to get creative, you can even package up the dulce de leche and give it away as a gift.