Dulce de Leche and Coconut Star Bread

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Dulce de Leche and Coconut Star Bread

Photo: Natalie Levin

I love alfajores cookies. These are my top favorite cookies in the world mainly because of the combination of the coconut and Dulce de Leche filling in a melt-in-your-mouth soft cookie sandwich. As an alfajores addict, I have quite a few recipes on the blog that are some kind of a homage to my favorite South American cookies: Alfajores cheesecake, cream cheese alfajores pie, alfajores cupcakes and more.

So I guess there’s no wonder I finally had to make alfajores star bread, which combines another love of mine – Danish pastries. I simply can’t resist a warm, fresh Danish braid coming out of the oven, and combined with Dulce de Leche and coconut filling – it’s just a perfect pastry for the weekend.  If you like alfajores cookies – do not miss this recipe – this alfajores star bread will fill your heart with joy 🙂

Dulce de Leche and Coconut Star Bread

Photo: Natalie Levin



Dulce de Leche and Coconut Star Bread

For the dough:

  • 500 grams (3 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 10 grams (2 tsp.) active dry yeast
  • 100 grams (1 stick) soft butter
  • 100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 180 ml. (3/4 cup) milk
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For brushing:

  • 1 beaten egg

For the filling:

  • 1 jar (400-500 grams) dulce de leche
  • 150 grams (1 ½ cups) ground coconut

For glazing:

  • 2-3 tablespoons apricot jam
  • 2-3 tablespoons boiling water

For decoration:

  • 2-3 tablespoons ground coconut
  1. Make the dough: in a mixer bowl with a kneading attachment, put flour, yeast, butter, sugar, eggs, milk, salt and vanilla and knead in low-medium speed for 10-12 minutes until uniform dough is obtained.
  2. Cover the bowl and allow rising for 1-2 hours until the dough almost doubles its volume.
  3. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts.
  4. On a floured work surface roll each part of the dough into a circle about ½ cm thick.
  5. Place one layer of dough on top of a baking pan lined with baking paper.
  6. Pour about ½ of the dulce de leche over the dough and spread evenly. Sprinnkle about 1/2 of the ground coconut.

  7. Place a second layer of dough over the dulce de leche and then spread over the rest of the dulce de leche in an even layer. Sprinkle the rest of the ground coconut in a thin layer.

  8. Place the third layer of dough and lightly flatten.
  9. Place a relatively wide glass at the center of the circle (only for marking the center of the circle). Cut into 12 strips around like a “sun”.
  10. Twist each 2 straps together so that they overlap.
  11. Cover the bread and allow rising for about an hour until it almost doubles its volume.
  12. Preheat oven to 170c degrees.
  13. Gently brush the bread with beaten egg.
  14. Bake the bread for 30-40 minutes or until golden and set.
  15. Cool slightly at room temperature.
  16. Glaze: in a small bowl, mix jam and water until combined.
  17. Brush the bread with the glaze and sprinkle with coconut for decoration.
  • The bread is at its best on the day of preparation, but it can be frozen – well wrapped – for up to two weeks. Before serving, it is recommended to defrost for several hours at room temperature and heat lightly in the oven.
  • If desired, add chopped nuts or dark chocolate chips to the filling.
  • You can brush the cake with a simple sugar syrup (1: 1 sugar-water ratio) instead of the jam glaze.
  • Instead of designing the bread in the form of a star, you can make 2 long babka braids.

Dulce de Leche and Coconut Star Bread

Photo: Natalie Levin