Monday, March 22, 2010

TWD: Dulce de Leche Duos

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Dulce de Leche Duos, arrived with high expectations. I know I've mentioned this before, but I live with a devoted dulce de leche lovah. When the husband heard that the dulce de leche cookies were on the agenda, he looked a little something like this:


Unfortunately, the finished product left us looking a little like this:

The cookies themselves looked like this:

The tragedy of these cookies was that they were so very sweet, so very cakey, and so very bland. The rich dulce de leche flavor didn't come through very much, and so they simply tasted like a soft sugary cookie.

Like the rigid perfectionist that I am, I partially blame myself. I made a double batch of dulce de leche in a water bath in the oven (not my usual method) and I was in a hurry, so the DDL might have needed more time to darken and develop its flavor:

A whiter shade of paaaaale...ooooh...

However, I don't think a more pronounced dulce de leche flavor would have helped with my complaints about the sweetness or the texture. I think dulce de leche can be used to make an awesome sandwich cookie, but it should be paired with a buttery, slightly salty shortbread, maybe with a nut base.

Things improved only slightly when I added a layer of bittersweet chocolate:

All is not lost, however, because we still have a container of dulce de leche in the fridge that will be used to top ice cream and toast for the next week. If you happen to have some leftovers, here are recipes for truly outstanding dulce de leche brownies and candy.

28 comments:

  1. awww sorry you didn't like them much. I adored them. I'm also looking fwd to trying your DDL brownie recipe!

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  2. Sorry these weren't a hit for you. I would love to try these cookies again with Dorie's Sable cookies recipe. In fact, I wonder how the Dulce de Leche would go sandwiched between her famous world peace cookies? I'm going to have to try that now!

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  3. Yours look really good. Not a favorite with me either but the family liked them with frosting on top--like they needed any more sweetness. :-)

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  4. Mmmmm the layer of chocolate sounds so good! I'm so sorry you didn't like these!!! They still look beautiful (as always!)

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  5. These weren't thrilling for me, either. I made some buttery shortbread this weekend that might have been a better base for the dulce de leche. At least you got a great topping for ice cream out of it!

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  6. Seriously. You and me are on opposite pages on this one. I loved that the cookies were kinda cake-y but adding the chocolate was TOO MUCH of a good thing for me. Go figure! HA HA
    -CB
    http://iheartfood4thought.com

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  7. I didn't like them either, but at least yours spread! They were even worse when lumpy:) Enjoy the rest of the dulce de leche!

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  8. I tried the oven method too and the dulce came out a lighter shade than I had expected but I still love the cookies though. I think your idea of pairing the dulce de leche with slightly salty sablé is a great one! Thanks for sharing

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  9. Oh, one more thing - I love the photo of the mini gateau you have as your blog header. Very very nice!

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  10. Your cookies look great even though you didn't like the taste! I love soft cookies so I thought the texture was awesome. Thanks for sharing the additional ddl recipes!

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  11. Sorry you didn't like the flavor - they look great! A bit of extra salt really WAS needed... but they still were delicious! Nicely made!

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  12. I feel like there is a flavor missing with these as is. Salt? Anyway, I played around to make them more edible. That said, I also tried some of the plain (un-filled) ones with Nutella today and that was pretty good. I think they really need a contrasting flavor, not MORE ddl.

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  13. Your cookies sure cake out pretty. Sorry they weren't "all that" for you. There's always next week :)

    P.S. your comment above reminded me that I made some cookies like what you described. They were tasty, better than the duos IMO.... http://daisylanecakes.blogspot.com/2009/07/melting-moments-oh-and-i-won-contest.html

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  14. Ciao ! Sorry you didn't like them !!I even liked them raw !

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  15. Yeah.. in my house the end results were like your second picture. Except my boyfriend love them (but he is weird that way).

    I thought of putting dark chocolate to counter balance, but I baked these on Monday night, after work and I was to tired to continue on.

    Your look good thought.

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  16. Bland, dang that's to bad..I thought they were delicious! They sure look good!

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  17. When I make these, I will take your advice and use a shortbread cookie instead. They look delicious, even if they didn't rate high with you guys.

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  18. Anonymous7:21 PM

    I liked these, but I agree that dulce de leche would be delicious with shortbread!

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  19. Sorry you didn't like them! They aren't pretty, I'll give you that!

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  20. Sorry you didn't like them. I actually agree that the sandwiches were WAY too sweet, but I thought the cookies were delicious on their own.

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  21. Sorry ya did not like these. I am so in love with these cookies!1 Of course, I am the ultimate sweets lover. Your cookies look great!

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  22. sorry they didn't turn out like you hoped. but dang, that brownie recipe! :)

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  23. Sorry they didn't work for you! These were a huge hit here. I also dipped mine in bittersweet chocolate and thought that really helped! Your DDL brownie recipe looks fabulous!

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  24. I wasn't crazy about these either... Mine turned out more crispy than cakey and I prefered them unfilled :)

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  25. But then I liked them and thot they had just enuff flavor. Ah, well. Sorry these werent for you.

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  26. Thats too bad that these cookies weren't to your liking! I hate it when this stuff happens, especially when you have high hopes. They look good though!

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  27. Hahaha I love the writing on this post!

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  28. My daughter just requested a dulce de leche cake for her birthday party. I had to make it minus rum syrup- but OMG, it was actually dulce de leche icing and cream, and I have a big bowl full- divine! Will have to make your brownies I think

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