Melting Moments

This Melting Moments recipe creates delicate sandwich cookies that literally melt in your mouth. The sweet and tart passionfruit icing centers balance the light texture of the biscuits perfectly for a delightful biscuit you'll want to come back to again and again.

With just a few simple ingredients, you can create a batch of these melting moments in no time. Follow our step-by-step instructions and learn how to make these irresistible cookies today.

What are Melting Moments cookies?

Melting Moments are buttery cookies known for their delicate texture and the way they effortlessly melt in your mouth. Most often flavored with vanilla or passionfruit. The most buttery biscuits sandwiched between a delicious lightly fragrant icing flavored with passionfruit.

Why you’ll love these

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Delicacy

True to their name, Melting Moments have a delicate crumb that is wonderfully tender and create a truly melt-in-your-mouth sensation with each bite.

Versatile and Customizable

Whether you prefer a classic vanilla flavor or wish to add a hint of citrus or a sprinkle of cinnamon; Melting Moments can be easily customized to suit your taste preferences. Get creative and make them uniquely yours.

Quick and Easy Recipe

This Melting Moments recipe is simple and straightforward, making it a perfect choice for both experienced bakers and beginners. With minimal prep time and a handful of ingredients, you can make a batch quickly.

Ingredients and substitutions for Melting Moments

• Butter: Unsalted softened butter is used, but salted also works as a fine substitute. Simply leave out any salt suggested in the recipe.
• Sugar: Confectioners or icing sugar dissolves into the cookies and icing, giving them a real melt-in-your-mouth texture. The superfine or caster sugar helps draw out the sugars in the passionfruit and dissolve to create a beautiful syrup. You could substitute with raw sugar. It is not recommended to replace the icing sugar with a different type of sugar.
• Flour: Plain or all purpose flour is best for a nice light cookie crumb.
• Corn starch: Sometimes termed cornflour in certain parts of the globe. Corn starch is what gives our biscuits the melt-in-your-mouth touch which differentiates them from shortbread.
• Salt: Salt adds dimension and balance to the passionfruit icing. Sea salt is best, but rock salt also works well.
• Passionfruit: Fresh passionfruit was used as sourcing passionfruit syrup is not easy where I live. If you are able to source passionfruit syrup, simply substitute the fresh fruit with 3 tablespoons of passionfruit syrup.
• Lemon juice and vanilla extract: The tang in the passionfruit is lost whilst making the syrup so the acidity from the lemon juice helps balance all the flavors evenly. Without the lemon juice your filling will be sweet and have a very shallow flavor. The vanilla extract works to add a slight depth of flavor to the syrup also.
• Milk: A small amount of milk doesn't just help add moisture to the icing, but the fat in the full fat milk adds creaminess also. Feel free to replace in equal measure here and add a tablespoon amount and then teaspoon amounts to the icing so as to ensure it does not become too runny.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Melting Moments:

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Place the butter, sugar and vanilla extract into a bowl and beat until pale and fluffy, approximately 4 minutes.

Add the flour and cornflour and combine on low until no dry portions remain in the edges of your bowl.

Scoop a piece of dough the size of a heaped tablespoon and roll in your palm.

Place onto your baking tray and press to flatten to your preference.

Press a fork into the top and center of your cookie and press firmly down.

Repeat, allowing 1 inch between each biscuit.

Place in the oven and bake until ever so lightly golden on the edges, but still pale, approximately 18 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, for the passionfruit filling, place the passionfruit and superfine/caster sugar into a small saucepan and simmer until reduced, approximately 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat, pour into a small bowl and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar and salt into a bowl and the cooled passionfruit syrup together and whip until smooth and combined.

Scoop a heaped teaspoon amount and place into the center of one biscuit.

Take a second and press down from the center of your biscuit to spread the icing evenly.

Continue with the remaining biscuits until all are filled.

Serve up and dig in!

Equipment needed to make a batch

Mixing bowl: You’ll need a medium mixing bowl to make the cookie dough and that icing.

Hand or stand mixer: To whip the butter and sugar, though this can be done by hand.

Greaseproof paper: Lining your baking tray will make getting the soft cookies off easy.

Ice Cream Scoop/s: The scoop used here creates medium cookies with a diameter of 6 centimeters / 2.36 inches. With a smaller 1.97 inches / 5 centimeters scoop used for putting the icing into the center of our biscuits.

FAQ’s for the best Melting Moments

Are Melting Moments and Yo-Yo Biscuits the same?

They are eerily similar, however, yo-yo biscuits are made with custard powder which gives them a more yellow hue than melting moments.

What does the cornflour do in these butter biscuits?

The amount of cornflour in these biscuits helps to prevent the development of gluten from the flour meaning they stay buttery and soft; giving them the melt-in-your-mouth texture we know and love.

How do I achieve the perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture?

The key to achieving the perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture with your melting moments is using the right ratio of cornflour and flour to your butter. Make sure the butter is softened (where an indent is left when you press it, it should be very soft), as this will create the desired tender texture. Cream the butter and sugar properly before adding the dry ingredients and avoid over-mixing the dough.

How do I store Melting Moments cookies?

To keep your Melting Moments cookies fresh and maintain their delicate texture, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They should stay fresh for about a week. If you live in a humid climate, adding a sheet of parchment paper between layers can help prevent them from sticking together.

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