Deliciously soft and buttery shortbread biscuits, sandwiched together with a layer of creamy vanilla buttercream. Melting moments are a beloved Australian classic! These old-fashioned favourites are so easy to make from scratch with just 6 ingredients. They are perfect with a cuppa and will literally melt in your mouth.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- So easy to make – you only need 6 easy ingredients and all of them are pantry staples!
- Egg-free – no eggs or raising agents needed.
- Perfect for any occasion – great for afternoon or morning tea with a cuppa or to serve for guests or at parties. You could even add some colour to the buttercream for a baby shower or special afternoon tea. They are also great for gifting!
- Freezer-friendly – keep a batch for when last-minute guests arrive or for any time there’s a snack emergency!
- No dough chilling – ready in under an hour.
- Amazing texture – they are soft and crumbly, but tender. Thanks to the butter, icing sugar and cornflour, each bite will literally melt in your mouth.
- Versatile – keep the biscuits vanilla-flavoured, or dress them up with passion fruit icing, lemon or even raspberry (see notes below).
Ingredients you will need
** This post contains tips and instructions to achieve the best possible results. The photo above is a great guide for when you are in the supermarket, but for full ingredient quantities and methods, please scroll down to the detailed recipe card below!
- Plain flour – the structure of the cookies. I recommend weighing your flour for best results. Too much flour will make them too dry. Sift the flour first, to make them light and prevent lumps.
- Icing sugar – also called confectioners’ sugar or powdered sugar, icing sugar is used in place of regular sugar in the biscuits, to keep them light and tender. Using icing sugar also means that they won’t be overly sweet.
- Vanilla – is used to flavour both the biscuits and the buttercream icing. I use vanilla bean paste for the best flavour, but you could also use a good quality vanilla extract.
- Cornflour – also called corn starch, cornflour is the key to the soft texture. Cornflour provides the biscuits with structure, but it also keeps them soft, tender and light. I don’t recommend skipping this ingredient.
- Butter – salted or unsalted, butter is the base of the shortbread-like biscuits. It gives them their classic rich flavour and softness. Make sure you use room temperature butter, as it will be creamed with the icing sugar and vanilla to form the dough. Cold butter will leave lumps.
- Milk – a little milk is used to soften the vanilla buttercream icing used to hold the melting moments together. Leave it out if you are adding other wet ingredients like passion fruit or raspberries to the icing.
Step by step instructions
**Full ingredient list and detailed step-by-step instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
Step 1 – Make the dough;
A simple 5-ingredient dough is made by first mixing the butter, icing sugar and vanilla until soft and pale. Using electric beaters is easiest, but you can also hand-beat the mixture if you don’t have beaters.
The sifted flour and cornflour is then added and beaten until combined and smooth.
*The dough will be crumbly and dry at first, but will come together into a soft dough.
Step 2 – Shape the biscuits;
Using your hand, roll teaspoon-sized portions of dough into balls and place them onto a lined baking tray.
Use a fork to gently press and flatten the balls. You can dust the fork with icing sugar or flour to prevent sticking.
Step 3 – Bake;
Bake the biscuits for 12 minutes, or until lightly golden and firm to touch. Be careful not to over-bake them, or they will become dry.
Leave on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 4 – Make the frosting;
Using electric beaters, beat the soft butter, icing sugar, vanilla and milk (or see notes below for passion fruit or lemon options) together in a bowl until smooth and combined.
Once the cookies have completely cooled, use a knife or piping bag to spread the buttercream icing over half of the biscuit bottoms and then gently sandwich together with the remaining biscuits (to make a total of 14 melting moments.
Expert tips
- This recipe makes approximately 28 biscuits, which are then sandwiched together with icing to make a total of 14 melting moments.
- Sift the flours and icing sugar before using, to prevent lumps.
- Make them small for perfect, bite-sized biscuits. A heaped teaspoon of dough is used to achieve this size. You can make them smaller (mini melting moments are so cute!) or larger, depending on preference, however baking times will vary slightly.
- Pressing the tops with a fork helps make the biscuits nice and round, as well as leaving a nice pattern on the tops.
- This recipe is for classic vanilla melting moments. To mix up the icing ingredients, prepare the biscuit recipe as normal and then alter the icing to add the following; for passion fruit icing, switch the milk and vanilla for passionfruit pulp. For raspberry melting moments, switch the milk and vanilla for crushed frozen raspberries or raspberry jam. For lemon melting moments, switch the milk and vanilla for equal quantities of lemon juice and add a little lemon zest to the icing mixture.
- Leave them on the tray for a few minutes after baking, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Melting moments are very soft when fresh out of the oven and can break if moved too soon.
- Serve plain, or with a little dusting of icing sugar.
- Make sure the biscuits are completely cooled before adding the buttercream icing. If you add it while they are still warm, the buttercream will melt and the biscuits will slide away from each other.
FAQs
Baking times will vary, depending on your oven and the size of the melting moments. They are cooked when they are very lightly golden and firm when gently touched. The bottom of the biscuits will also appear with tiny little cracks when ready.
While melting moments taste best when fresh (in the first 1-2 days), they will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days, or in the fridge for up to a week (or un-iced for up to 2 weeks).
If your biscuits are spreading too far in the oven, the dough was too warm or possibly too much butter was added. If the dough is very warm or you are baking on a hot day, place the rolled and flattened biscuits on a tray in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up before baking. It also helps to accurately weigh and measure the ingredients and pre-heat the oven before baking.
Both melting moments and yoyos are very similar in that they are soft, shortbread-like cookies sandwiched together with icing. The main difference is that melting moments are made using cornflour for a soft and light texture, where yoyos are made using custard powder (a common pantry staple found in Australia and the UK or online).
Yes! They keep well in the freezer for up to 2 months. While they can be frozen iced, I recommend freezing them un-iced, to add fresh icing when you want to eat them. To freeze, allow them to cool completely and store in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag in the freezer for 1-2 months.
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Melting Moments with Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients
For the biscuits
- 190 grams butter softened to room temperature
- 40 grams icing sugar ¼ cup, sifted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 210 grams plain flour 1 ½ cups, sifted
- 30 grams cornflour ¼ cup, sifted
For the vanilla buttercream filling
- 75 grams butter softened to room temperature
- 125 grams icing sugar ¾ cup, sifted
- 1-2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 1-2 teaspoons milk
Instructions
For the biscuits
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/356 F (160°C fan forced). Line 1-2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Place the butter, icing sugar and vanilla bean paste in a large mixing bowl and beat with handheld electric beaters on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes, until smooth and pale.
- Add the sifted flour and cornflour and mix on low speed until the mixture forms a soft dough.
- Using your hands, roll heaped teaspoon-sized portions (28 in total) of the dough into balls and place them on the prepared baking trays, leaving a little space between each ball.
- Use a fork to gently flatten the balls slightly.
- Bake for around 12-14 minutes, or until firm to touch and slightly golden. (Check them at 12 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and leave the biscuits on the trays for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the vanilla buttercream
- Place all of the buttercream ingredients into a bowl.
- Using electric beaters on low-medium speed, beat until the mixture is smooth and completely combined.
To assemble
- Once the cookies have completely cooled, use a knife or piping bag to spread the buttercream mixture over the bottoms of 14 of the biscuits. Then, gently press the remaining biscuits onto the iced biscuits, making a total of 14 melting moments.
Notes
- This recipe makes approximately 28 biscuits, which are then sandwiched together with icing to make a total of 14 melting moments.
- Make them small for perfect, bite-sized biscuits. A heaped teaspoon of dough is used to achieve this size. You can make them smaller (mini melting moments are so cute!) or larger, depending on preference, however baking times will vary slightly.
- Pressing the tops with a fork helps make the biscuits nice and round, as well as leaving a nice pattern on the tops.
- This recipe is for classic vanilla melting moments. To mix up the icing ingredients, prepare the biscuit recipe as normal and then alter the icing to add the following; for passion fruit icing, switch the milk and vanilla for passionfruit pulp. For raspberry melting moments, switch the milk and vanilla for crushed frozen raspberries or raspberry jam. For lemon melting moments, switch the milk and vanilla for equal quantities of lemon juice and add a little lemon zest to the icing mixture.
- Leave them on the tray for a few minutes after baking, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Melting moments are very soft when fresh out of the oven and can break if moved too soon.
- Serve plain, or with a little dusting of icing sugar.
- Make sure the biscuits are completely cooled before adding the buttercream icing. If you add it while they are still warm, the buttercream will melt and the biscuits will slide away from each other.
- Baking times will vary, depending on your oven and the size of the melting moments. They are cooked when they are very lightly golden and firm when gently touched. The bottoms will also appear with tiny little cracks when ready.
- Storage; While melting moments taste best when fresh (in the first 1-2 days), they will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days, or in the fridge for up to a week (or un-iced for up to 2 weeks).
- Freezing; They keep well in the freezer for up to 2 months. While they can be frozen iced, I recommend freezing them un-iced, to add fresh icing when you want to eat them. To freeze, allow them to cool completely and store in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag in the freezer for 1-2 months.
- Please note that the nutrition information is based on one melting moment, which is comprised of 2 biscuits being held together with the buttercream. The nutritional information is an estimate only and does not take into account any additional toppings served with the biscuits.
- This recipe is made using Australian cups and spoon measurements. Due to cup sizes varying from country to country, I advise adjusting if necessary.
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