Shortbread biscuits sandwiched with lemon icing. Melting Moments are a timeless Australian cafe favourite! True to their name, they literally “melt” in your mouth. They are delectable!
Melting Moments – flashback!
I am pretty sure Melting Moments is one of the first baked goods I ever attempted to make. The recipe from the Women’s Weekly “Best Ever Recipes” cookbook published back in the 1970’s or 1980’s which, to this day, is still my all time favourite cookbook. It holds such sentimental value, being the very first cookbook I ever owned. (Actually, “owned” is a bit of a loose term given I stole it from my mother. 😂)
The recipe I use today is based on the original Melting Moments recipe from this cookbook, though the ingredient quantities and mixing method has been slightly tweaked for what I think is a better “melt in your mouth” texture.
Also, the original recipe called for star shaped biscuits to be half dipped in chocolate then sandwiched with orange buttercream frosting, as pictured above. These days the popular cafe variety is plain biscuits joined with lemon frosting which is what I’m sharing today.
Ingredients in Melting Moments
Melting Moments are shortbread cookies joined together with lemon buttercream frosting. While some recipes call for custard powder to make the cookies more yellow, I personally prefer the flavour without imitation custard flavour. 🙂
The cookies
Flour – Just plain / all-purpose flour.
Cornflour / cornstarch – This is what gives shortbread cookies the signature soft “crumbly” texture.
Icing sugar (soft) / powdered sugar – This is the sweetener for melting moments which gives the cookies the signature shortbread cookie texture (ordinary sugar makes them harder).
⚠️ Australia – Get packets labelled “SOFT icing sugar” or “icing sugar mixture” not pure icing sugar (packet labelled as such). Soft icing sugar is sugar mixed with cornflour/cornstarch, tapioca that is used for fluffy frostings. Pure icing sugar (packet labelled as such) is made with 100% sugar only and is used for icing that sets hard, like royal icing.
Unsalted butter – Softened to room temperature which is (technically!) 17°C / 63°F. Don’t let the butter soften too much else the dough is a little more tricky to roll into balls.
Vanilla extract – For flavour. Extract is better than imitation essence. I wouldn’t use vanilla beans or vanilla bean paste for this purpose – it’s a waste!
lemon ICING
Older-style recipes, such as the original Women’s Weekly recipe, tended to use icings which are not as creamy but firmer and a bit crumbly. These days, the cafe versions use buttercream frosting which is soft, creamy and fluffy, with the most common being lemon flavoured. So that’s what I use in my recipe. However, I’m also including a passionfruit version too!
Unsalted butter – Softened to room temperature so it can be whipped into a fluffy frosting.
Soft icing sugar / powdered sugar – As noted above, be sure to get soft icing sugar! If you use pure icing sugar the frosting will not be soft and fluffy, it sets hard.
Lemon – Both zest and lemon juice.
For a passionfruit frosting, you will need passionfruit pulp (fresh, not canned, it’s too sweet) plus a bit of lemon to balance out the flavours.
How to make melting moments
Cream butter – Place butter, vanilla and icing sugar in a bowl. Beat for 1 minute until smooth and fluffy, starting on low speed to avoid an icing sugar cloud-storm.
Stir in dry in 3 lots – Add 1/3 of the cornflour and flour, then stir it in with a rubber spatula. Once the flour is incorporated, add half the remaining cornflour and flour, stir in, then repeat. The mixture is a a little softer than usual cookie dough, but it shouldn’t be pourable.
Scoop 1 tablespoon of the mixture onto the trays – 28 mounds in total. A cookie scoop with a lever is handy here!
Roll – Then roll into balls using lightly floured hands to prevent the dough from sticking. As mentioned above, this dough is a little softer that typical cookie dough.
Flatten with fork – Use a fork dipped in flour to press the balls down to 1 cm / 0.4″ thickness.
Bake for 15 minutes in a 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan-forced) oven, switching the tray shelves and rotating at the 10 minute mark. The cookies should be very pale golden, not browned.
Fully cool on the trays.
Lemon icing – Meanwhile, make the lemon icing. Beat the butter first until creamy, then gradually add the icing sugar, starting on low with the handheld beater to avoid a snow-storm. Add the lemon zest and juice, then beat on high for 2 minutes to make the frosting nice and fluffy!
Sandwich the melting moments together with lemon frosting. A piping bag makes short work on this as well as making the edges of the icing nice and tidy, but you could just spread with a spoon or knife.
Refrigerate 1 hour – You can eat the cookies straight away but the frosting will be a little soft so it squirts out when you bite into the cookies. So to reduce squirt-age, I like to refrigerate the melting moments for 1 hour to set the frosting. Then bring to room temperature before eating which softens the frosting again, but it’s still not as soft as when freshly made so it won’t squirt out as much.
(I really never thought I’d use the word “squirt” so much in one paragraph. What has become of me?? 😂)
Why homemade tastes better
Make these for afternoon tea, for a bake sale, for book club with your friends. Or, just because homemade Melting Moments really are that much better than mass-produced store bought ones. Yes, I really did buy some so I could tell you that the cookies aren’t as “melt in your mouth” and the frosting is usually dried out rather than creamy inside.
But the thing that bothers me the most is that many store bought cookies aren’t made with butter but instead use more cost effective fat options like vegetable shortening which have no flavour. Butter is what makes these so good!!
I hope you get a chance to make these one of these days. They really are special! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Melting Moments
Ingredients
Melting moments:
- 250g (2 sticks + 1 tbsp) unsalted butter , softened (Note 1)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup soft icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted (not PURE icing sugar, Note 2)
- 1 1/2 cups plain / all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornflour / cornstarch
Lemon icing:
- 100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter , softened
- 2 cups soft icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted (not PURE icing sugar, Note 2)
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Passionfruit icing:
- 80g / 6 tbsp unsalted butter , softened
- 2 cups soft icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted (not PURE icing sugar, Note 2)
- 4 tbsp fresh passionfruit pulp , (not canned, too sweet)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan-forced). Line 2 trays with paper.
- Cream butter – Place butter, vanilla and icing sugar in a bowl. Beat for 1 minute until smooth and fluffy (start on low to avoid an icing sugar cloud-storm).
- Dry in 3 lots – Stir in cornflour and flour in 3 lots using a rubber spatula. (ie add 1/3 of flour + cornflour, stir in, repeat twice more).
- Scoop 1 tablespoon of the mixture onto the trays (cookie scoop handy here), then roll into balls using lightly floured hands (to prevent it from sticking). You should have 24 – 28 balls.
- Bake – Press down into 1 cm / 0.4" thickness using a fork. Bake for 15 minutes, switching the trays at the 10 minute mark. Fully cool on trays.
- Sandwiching – Pipe frosting onto half the melting moments, then sandwich with remaining cookies.
- Set – Refrigerate for 1 hour to set the frosting (else it's so soft, it squirts out!). Then remove from the fridge 30 minutes prior to serving.
Lemon icing:
- Cream butter – Place butter in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium high for 1 minute until smooth and fluffy. Add 1/3 of the icing sugar, then beat in starting on low and increasing to high (to avoid snow-storm!). Repeat another 2 times.
- Beat 2 minutes – Add lemon zest and juice. Then beat on high for 2 minutes until fluffy. Transfer to piping bag, snip end off to make a 1cm / 1/2" hole. Use per recipe.
Passionfruit icing:
- Same method as above for lemon icing.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
This happens a thousand times a day. You can see how much he loves it. 😂
What if we don’t get soft icing sugar only pure icing?
Hi Georgie! It makes the cookies firmer and less “melt in your mouth” and the icing is drier and sets harder (like royal icing) 🙂 N xc
Why does the passion fruit icing contain more lemon zest than the lemon icing??
Great question! Because we found that you need a certain amount of passionfruit pulp to get enough passionfruit flavour in the frosting which was making it too sloppy, so we reduced the butter. But then, we thought it was too sweet (because of higher icing sugar to butter ratio) so we balanced it out with more lemon juice 🙂 N x
I live in South Africa and we don’t get a product called soft icing sugar. What can I use as a substitute? Thanks
Perhaps try swapping out 5% icing for Maizena as suggested by Katie below. I am also South African so would be interested to know the results.
Had to make these as soon as I could! I didn’t have any icing mixture on hand so I swapped 5% of the icing sugar for cornstarch as that seems to be the only difference between pure and soft (for csr)
Couldn’t wait for them to fridge before trying one and it was divine!! So much better than chalky store-bought ones
I am loving reading all of these wonderful comments telling all of these wonderful peoples memories with Melting Moments growing up 🙂 I have never heard of these cookies before, I am from the Midwest of the United States and so maybe it just not as common there. I saw this in my email and knew I had to make them, they looked amazing and I love lemon anything. They turned out great! At least the cookies that didn’t turn to puddles hahaha somehow about half of them turned to puddles and the other half, just right! I haven’t made shortbread cookies before and am an amateur baker. I love to bake but am not the most skilled. Very happy to have a new recipe to work on and hone with lots of yummy cookies along the journey! Love the little victories
I have had this cookbook for 30 years and the melting moments have never failed to please.
Thanks to you wonderful ladies who gave me sources for the custard powder. I look forward to trying it. Happy cooking.
Ooh I love Melting Moments have eaten a lot of them in my lifetime and still have the book as well. Yours look great Nagi
What kind of gluten free flour did you use please?
Oh my stars, I am in love with any cookie that has lemon in them. They are so easy to bake and all of the icing was used😁 And I wish I could say all mine but with a family I have trained to share this is a hard one for me! 🤣🤣. My Sara passed a couple months ago at age 15 so please give Dozer a couple extra hugs from me and tell his Mum that she needs to make another lemon cookie! 🫶🫶
As a schoolgirl in England, aged 10 or so, we had cooking classes that included meling moments. If for some reason you couldn’t afford, or just didn’t like that week’s recipe, you could substitute for one already used in class. I remember making MM for most of the school year! We made them slightly diferent and without icing or filling. They really do live up to their name. I haven’t made them for years. But I still have my old school hand written recipe book! We have lived in the US since 1988 and I am 65 yars old, but those cooking classes, I remember as if it were yesterday! Thank you for reminding me.
What wonderful memories!
Thank you for sharing. 😊
Hi Nagi, another reminder of my childhood in England – but my frugal mum used to put a 1/4 of a glace cherry on each before baking and we didn’t get them sandwiched together with frosting either! I totally agree with you about butter – especially when trying to avoid ultra processed foods.
Oh my, these bring back memories. I ‘m Scots and my mother used to make those for every Women’s Institute event she attended. This was in the 1940s. I believe the recipe originated in Scotland. I love the updated lemon icing more than the original butter cream. Thanks for the memory.
They look nice, I don´t bake but my daughter does so I will pass this on to her. Oh, seen that Jamie Oliver is in Sidney, I bet you two are plotting something exciting 🙂 Have a good weekend x
Hi Nagi
Just wondering if you are working on another book?
Have you tried to make them with a cookie machine as it is a soft dough?
Nagi, will your next cookbook be called ‘All Mine’ ? 😋😁
What is custard powder & can I buy it in USA? Or is there a sub?
I just saw custard powder at my local Asian grocery last weekend. Bird’s is the brand you want to look for. You can also get it online.
Hello Peggy, You can get custard powder in the USA. World Market or some local grocery who have specialty items would carry! Brand I get is called Birds original custard powdered. Hope you find it!! Enjoy!
I found custard powder last year at Wegman’s market.
I haven’t found custard powder in the USA. It’s commonly used in Canada. I order it from Amazon.
The word you were looking for is “squelch!”
I love all of your recipes and use your book at least 3 times a week ,easy and delicious