Fall in love with these four ingredient Melting Moments. These buttery shortbread cookies are sandwiched together with creamy vanilla buttercream and make for a beautiful sweet treat.
I love seriously love Melting Moments 💜
These gorgeous sandwich cookies are made of two shortbread-like cookies squished together with homemade vanilla buttercream. But they’re no regular shortbread cookie, these egg-free delights have a special ingredient that gives them unrivalled flavour.
If you love buttery cookies, you will go mad for these Melting Moments.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had a soft spot for Melting Moments. In fact, I remember when I was first creating this blog, I even considered naming it Melting Moments. See – true obsession.
And now I know why these plain-looking cookies taste so good. Made with butter, sugar and flour, there’s a fourth ingredient that takes them to the next level flavour-wise – custard powder. That’s also what gives them their typical yellow appearance.
I know that custard powder may not be available in other countries as readily as it is here in Australia, so I’ve also given an alternative, that yields a result pretty close to the original. Trust me – I ate my fair share of Melting Moments just to be sure.
There’s no eggs or raising agents, which means they are super simple to make. And they boast a unique buttery texture that means they literally melt-in-your-mouth -> get it?!
The final touch is a smothering of creamy vanilla buttercream. You could also colour your buttercream if you like – wouldn’t these be cute with a blue or pink filling for a baby shower or the like?
Made with staple pantry ingredients, these Melting Moments will become that recipe you have up your sleeve for when impromptu guests rock up or you need a sweet fix stat.
How to tell if Melting Moments are cooked
Melting Moments are cooked when they are firm to the touch, but they won’t go brown like regular cookies. They usually take around 12 minutes to bake.
How long do Melting Moments last?
Melting Moments will keep well for up to 5 days. Store cookies in an airtight container.
How to make Melting Moments without custard powder
If you don’t have custard powder, you can use a mix of cornflour (or cornstarch) and icing sugar (or powdered sugar) instead. I’ve outlined in the recipe below how to make these Melting Moments without custard powder.
Are Melting Moments gluten free?
Not typically, no.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.
Let’s Bake
Melting Moments
Homemade shortbread cookies filled with vanilla buttercream.
Ingredients
Melting Moments
- 230 grams (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 280 grams (2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 60 grams (1/2 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 4 level tablespoons custard powder*
Vanilla buttercream
- 115 grams (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 375 grams (3 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3–4 tablespoons full fat or whole milk, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute or until creamy. Add flour, salt, sugar and custard powder and beat until a soft cookie dough forms.
- Roll roughly two teaspoons of cookie dough in your hands to form a ball and place on prepared tray. Repeat with remaining cookie dough. Press down on each cookie using a fork.
- Bake cookies for approximately 12 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until pale and creamy.
- Add vanilla, half the sugar and one tablespoon of milk and beat until combined. Add the remaining sugar and another tablespoon of milk and beat until smooth.
- If the frosting is too thick, add an extra tablespoon or two of milk. Add buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe buttercream onto one cookie. Add another cookie on top. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Notes
*If you don’t have custard powder, add 3 level tablespoons cornflour (corn starch) and 1 level tablespoon of icing sugar or powdered sugar.
Nutrition Information
Matt says
Really really yummy buttercream
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you liked them!
Glennis says
Made the melting moments they turned out great but I think they needed a little bit of salt i will make again but will try with salted butter otherwise they live up to the name
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Glennis! And thank you for your feedback. I forgot to put salt in the recipe, but have added it in now. But like you mentioned, you could use salted butter next time instead.
Jan says
About to make them , two teaspoons will make rather a large biscuit , is this to make two biscuits so they match
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Jan, I use two teaspoons of dough per biscuit, but really you can make them as big or small as you like. They won’t grow much in the oven, so make them the size you’d like. And just watch the cooking time – if they’re a bit smaller, they might cook a few minutes faster. Hope you enjoy them!
Tazmin says
Amazing recipe love it I have made it twice and it’s a favorite between my family and friends
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Tazmin! Thank you for the lovely feedback!
Leni says
these where so good, I could not stop eating them
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Haha love hearing that Leni!
Graham Mccard says
Love making these. So easy to make and everyone enjoys eating them. I like filling them with biscoff. Very tasty. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them! And biscoff would be amazing!!
Carol says
Thank you for this great recipe. Really easy recipe and lovely shortbread consistency. Will definitely make again. I had some lemon/sultana cream cheese I wanted to use up so filled some with that. Very tasty.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that! Lemon/sultana cream cheese sounds amazing!
Ashlea says
Biscuits were incredibly easy to make and were perfect tasting. Good tip, use quality custard powder not home brand.
Also. I used a strawberry jam instead of the vanilla butter cream as I just couldn’t bring myself to use more butter… I heated the jam on the stove and stirred it constantly until it thickened. Added to the biscuits while the jam was still hot and it set like a strawberry toffee. Yum.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them Ashlea! And love the idea of filling them with jam – yum!
Ann Knight says
Can I use corn flour instead of custard powder
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Ann, check the notes of the recipe for a little substitute if you don’t have access to custard powder.
Grace Fox says
This is such a yummy recipe. So soft and definitely a melting moment. My cookies needed a few extra minutes too cook all the way through thought 😊
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them Grace!
Samantha Rose says
Can you please tell me what brand custard powder you use , I was going to order Birds from the uk shop but I read a comment saying it contains no sugar …My family lives in Melbourne Australia and could send me some ..thanks
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Samantha, I tested this recipe using Foster Clarks custard powder. You can find it in the supermarket in the dessert aisle – I hope that helps!
Andrea says
Finally a recipe which makes sense. I made a batch today. Need to press them down a bit more with the fork, but otherwise a hit with Nutella.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them Andrea! Love the thought of pairing them with Nutella!
Margaret says
Would you say the 20ml teaspoon measure equates to 20grams? To get my cookies the same size I find it easier to weigh the dough portions.
They look yummy and I want to try them.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Margaret, I haven’t tried weighing them so I can’t say – sorry!
Jackie says
I saw that you suggested replacing custard powder with cornflour & sugar. But note that Birds Custard Powder (as sold in the UK) contains no sugar. So if you use Birds you might want to increase the amount of icing sugar in the recipe, although of course it’s dependent on taste.
Jessica Holmes says
Thanks for letting me know Jackie!
Jackie says
Mine turned out lovely anyway!