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Alfajores: Arab-Andalusian honey pastries

Alfajores are one of the most direct surviving links to the cooking of Al-Andalus — a pastry of ground almonds, honey, bread, and spices (cloves, coriander, cinnamon, anise) that appears in the earliest recorded Spanish confectionery documents and has remained essentially unchanged in Medina Sidonia (Cádiz) since the 15th century. The name derives from the Arabic al-hasú (the filling), and the technique of binding ground nuts with honey and spices is characteristic of the medieval Islamic kitchen. Modern alfajores from the Americas (particularly the dulce de leche sandwich cookie version) are a completely different preparation — the Spanish alfajor is a dense, dark, spiced confection, not a sandwich cookie.

‹Swipe for the next dish›
ServesAbout 24 alfajores
Sourced2of 9 in BC
Cook
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I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

200 g
blanched almonds
toasted
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 g
hazelnuts
toasted
Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →
200 g
honey
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
100 g
pan rallado (fine dry breadcrumbs)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
ground cinnamon
Your own market
½ tsp
ground cloves
Your own market
½ tsp
ground anise
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
½ tsp
ground coriander
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 g
sesame seeds
for rolling
Not yet stocked in British Columbia

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

II

The Method

1
Spread the almonds and hazelnuts on a dry baking tray and toast in a moderate oven or in a dry frying pan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the skins are fragrant and the flesh is golden. Transfer to a board and leave to cool completely, then grind to a coarse meal — the mixture should retain some texture and not become a paste.
2
Pour the honey into a heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Cook without stirring until it reaches the thread stage: dip a spoon into the honey, lift it clear, and draw two fingers slowly through the drop — a thin, elastic thread should form and hold between them without breaking immediately. This is the binding matrix of the confection; honey that falls short will not set, honey that goes beyond will shatter.
3
Remove the pan from the heat. Add the ground almonds and hazelnuts, the pan rallado, and all four ground spices — cinnamon, cloves, anise, and coriander — to the honey. Stir firmly with a wooden spoon until a uniform, dense paste forms that pulls away from the sides of the pan.
4
Turn the paste onto a clean surface and allow it to cool until it can be handled — it should be warm but no longer sticky to a lightly dampened hand. Divide into portions of approximately 20 g each and roll into balls or press into small squares.
5
Spread the sesame seeds on a flat plate. Roll each shaped piece firmly in the seeds until evenly coated on all surfaces. Set on a tray and leave at room temperature until fully cool and firm — the exterior will be dry and the interior dense and chewy.
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — Single-origin raw honey from Andalusia (thyme or rosemary blossom); freshly toasted Marcona almonds ground to order; whole spices freshly ground by hand; artisan pan rallado from an old loaf of good bread.
02
Estate — Good Spanish monofloral honey; Marcona or Largueta almonds toasted at home; pre-ground spices of recent purchase; fine commercial dry breadcrumbs.
03
Market — Reliable blended honey; standard blanched almonds and whole hazelnuts toasted at home; standard supermarket ground spices; fine dry breadcrumbs.
04
House — Any mild set honey thinned gently with heat; pre-ground nuts if necessary; whatever ground spices are to hand from the four required; commercial pan rallado.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Smell. The toasted nuts release a deep, roasted fragrance — raw or pale nuts signal insufficient toasting.
◇Touch. The honey at thread stage draws a fine elastic thread between two fingers; it neither snaps immediately nor collapses into a drop.
◇Sight. The finished paste pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pan and holds its shape when pressed into a ball.
◇Touch. The cooled alfajor is firm to the finger, dense, and slightly yielding — not sticky, not hard enough to resist.
◇Where it lives or dies. The honey must reach the thread stage precisely — too little and the alfajores will not hold their shape; too much and they become brittle rather than chewy.
Pillar V
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VI

What to Pour

The pairing
El Silencio Espadin Mezcal
El Silencio Mezcal · Oaxaca — Mezcal
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Agave spirit
From British Columbia

Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.

Without alcohol

No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.

Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →

The whole pairing
Pillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

Bosa Foods
Vancouver · hazelnuts
→
Purely Artisan Foods
San Diego · honey
→
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