Melt-in-your-mouth cookies filled with a sweet and zest silky passionfruit buttercream, the perfect passionfruit melting moments.
What is a melting moment?
Melting moments are a classic Australian cookie! They are sandwich cookies made with silky buttercream and two melt-in-your-mouth cookies.
The melt-in-your-mouth texture comes from the use of cornstarch or custard powder. The cookie itself is similar to shortbread cookies, but with a finer texture that disappears in your mouth.
Traditionally they are filled with a lemon filling, but I've opted for passionfruit instead. This results in a fruitier and tangier buttercream that goes perfectly with the buttery cookie.
Ingredients
Cookie
- Unsalted butter: Make sure you use room temperature butter as it will make it a lot easier to incorporate the rest of your ingredients
- Powdered sugar: Aka icing sugar, is needed to give the cookies sweetness without a grainy texture
- Custard powder: Custard powder is the secret to that melt-in-your-mouth texture. If you can't find any custard powder you can use cornstarch (aka corn flour) instead. Keep in mind that the cookies won't be as sweet so I would add another tablespoon or two of icing sugar to balance it out.
- All-purpose flour: Aka plain flour, makes up the structure of the cookie! Make sure you don't overmix your cookies otherwise they can turn out very dense.
Buttercream
- Unsalted butter: Make sure you use room temperature butter as this will help the passionfruit pulp incorporate smoothly into the buttercream.
- Powdered sugar: The sugar here gives the buttercream sweetness, you can increase or decrease this according to your personal preferences
- Passionfruit pulp: You can use canned or fresh passionfruit pulp. If you are using canned passionfruit pulp make sure you drain out the excess liquid before adding it to your buttercream otherwise the buttercream will be too wet and split.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do these last?
These cookies will last up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container on your countertop, or up to a week when stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
If you do store them in the fridge make sure you leave them out at room temperature to soften up before eating. This will ensure that they are at the right temperature to melt in your mouth.
How should I store these?
I recommend storing melting moments in an airtight container on your countertop. This preserves the texture of the cookie, making sure it is at its optimal flavor and texture for consumption.
If you want these to last longer you can store the cookies and the cream separately from each other. This prevents the cookies from absorbing too much moisture and becoming soft.
Can I change the flavor?
Yes, you can! There are so many different ways you can switch up the fillings.
I highly recommend adding some lemon zest and lemon juice to the buttercream instead of passionfruit pulp. Or even adding a jam like strawberry or marmalade to the buttercream instead of the passionfruit.
If you like a classic vanilla flavor then leave out the passionfruit altogether and add a splash of vanilla extract instead!
Why is my buttercream splitting?
This buttercream is sensitive to splitting as we are adding passionfruit pulp to it. Passionfruit pulp, depending on where you get it from can be wetter or drier. I recommend placing your passionfruit pulp in a fine-meshed sieve and letting any excess passionfruit juice drip from the pulp before adding it to the buttercream.
If the buttercream does split as you are whisking it don't worry. Just increase the speed of your mixer to high and continue to beat it until it comes together. It might take a little longer than usual but it will come together eventually.
Let's Get Baking
Growing up in Australia these were one of my favorite cookies, and I wasn't even aware that they were Australian cookies until much later. The rest of you are all missing out! If you are a fan of shortbread or buttery cookies give these a try, I guarantee you'll be in love.
If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went.
Also, don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts and hashtag #cattycakes so I can see and share your desserts. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, and TikTok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy caking!
Print📖 Recipe
Passionfruit Melting Moments
Melt-in-your-mouth cookies filled with a sweet and zest silky passionfruit buttercream, the perfect passionfruit melting moment
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Cookie
- Method: Easy
- Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients
Cookie
- 180 g Unsalted butter (¾ cup)
- 60 g Powdered sugar (½ cup)
- 60 g Custard powder (½ cup)
- 180 g All-purpose flour (1 ½ cup)
Buttercream
- 120 g Unsalted butter (½ cup)
- 13g Powdered sugar (2 tbsp)
- 60ml Passionfruit pulp, drained (¼ cup)
Instructions
Cookie
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the unsalted butter, icing sugar, and custard powder together until light and fluffy
- Add the flour and mix until the dough comes together
- Place the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out until 5mm thick
- Place the rolled dough on a baking tray and chill for at least 30 mins
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper
- Once the dough has chilled, remove it from the freezer, using a medium-sized round cookie cutter cut out rounds of dough (the dough can be rerolled, chilled, and used again)
- If the dough sticks to the cookie cutter dip the cutter in flour before cutting out the shape
- Place all the cut-out cookie dough on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 12-15 minutes
- The cookies should be tinged golden and firm to the touch
- Cool completely on a wire rack
Buttercream
- Put the butter in a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy
- Add the passionfruit pulp and beat on high until fully incorporated
- Add the sugar and continue to beat until the buttercream is smooth and silky
- Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip
Assembly
- Pipe a dollop of buttercream on the underside of a cookie
- Tp with another cookie to form a sandwich
- Repeat with the remaining cookies and buttercream
- Enjoy!
Keywords: passionfruit, melting moment, yoyos, shortbread, sandwich cookies, biscuits
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Cami
Hey Catherine,
These look adorable! Do you happen to know any substitutes for the custard powder? I looked it up and it said Cornstarch could be used as a substitute. Do you know if it will work with these?
Thank you!
Cami
Catherine Zhang
Hi Cami,
Yes you can substitute it for cornstarch and they will still work out, but it won't have the same yellow tinge. The soft melt-in-your mouth texture might be slightly compromised as well. Custard powder is pretty readily available in supermarkets so if you do see it I highly recommend using it!
Tammy
I made these for Valentine’s and they were delicious ! Thank you !!
~ Tammy
Catherine Zhang
I'm so glad you liked them!
Mina
I made these recently and they were a big hit! I used premade strawberry jam because it's midwinter here. Thank you for the recipe!
Tip for anyone else making these: if you add a bit more sugar to the dough, these are delicious as regular cookies without filling.