Melting Moments Biscuits

Melting moments biscuits, or cookies, are a traditional British butter biscuit that really do melt in the mouth.

They are crisp on the outside, with a wonderful buttery taste, that everyone will love.

So easy to make with store cupboard ingredients, they are great fun to make with the children, or for a last minute bake for tea time or a gift.

There is no rolling or chilling either, so much less mess and you can still use different toppings and flavours to ring the changes too.

Best of all, they are only 45 calories a biscuit.

Enjoy.

I love a good old fashioned recipe that has been used for years and years, and this one appears frequently as a traditional British recipe.

In Mrs Beeton's family cookery, (although it is said that many of the recipes were sent to her as opposed to being written by her), there are no cherries and the butter biscuits are rolled in cornflakes.

In other recipe versions oats are used as a variation too, along with margarine and lard instead of butter. A quarter of a cherry was a popular topping, but seems a bit stingy to me, so I've opted for a half.

Either way, this is a tried and tested butter biscuit recipe, that really only needs a bowl and spoon to make. Perfect for those days when you crave something homemade without too much work.

❤️ Why you will love this recipe

• store cupboard ingredients
• lots of easy variations
• great for the children to make
• perfect as gifts
• bakes in 15 minutes
• easy to portion with a 3 cm scoop
• totally melt in the mouth
• keep crisp for a week in an air tight container
• only 45 calories in each biscuit

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🥘 Ingredients

• Butter - softened salted or unsalted butter for flavour.
• Flour - self raising flour or see below to make your own.
• Sugar - caster sugar.
• Vanilla - good quality extract rather than vanilla essence.
• Egg - I egg yolk
• Coconut - dessicated coconut.
• Cherries - glace or candied cherries

The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post.

💭 How to make self raising flour

• If you want to make your own self raising flour then you can use plain or all purpose flour and add 2 teaspoons of baking powder for each 150g/6oz/1 cup plain flour. For this recipe you would need 2 teaspoons.

🍽 Equipment

• large bowl
• wooden spoon
• 3 cm scoop
• 2 lined baking sheets

🔪 Instructions

Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is pale and fluffy.

💭 Top Tip

• The butter needs to be soft enough to work with a spoon, but if it is overly soft the melting moments will spread too thin in the oven. If the butter is too cold cut it into small pieces to start with. Don't be tempted to put it in the microwave.

Add in the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat again.

Stir in the flour. It will take a while to come together.

The dough is now ready for baking.

Slice the cherries in half ready for decorating.

Use a scoop to make 28 portions about the size of a walnut.

Roll them into a ball then dip each one in the coconut.

Place them on lined baking sheets about 4-5 cm or 2 inches apart.

💭 Top Tip

• I find it's easier to have slightly damp hands so that the dough forms a smooth ball without sticking. This also helps the coconut to stick.

Place a cherry half onto each biscuit, pressing it in slightly.

⏲️ Baking Time

Place the melting moments biscuits in a preheated oven at 190 C / 375 F / 170 FAN / Gas 5 for about 15 minutes until golden.

Leave them to cool on the tray for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

🥗 Serve as afternoon tea with

Melting moments biscuits are delicious with a cup of tea or afternoon tea with some of these baking recipes.

• Traditional Finger Sandwiches
• Scones for a cream tea
• Cheese and Bacon Scones
• Chocolate Tiffin Cake
• Cherry Madeira Cake
• Sticky Jamaica Ginger Loaf
• Salted Caramel Mille Feuille
• Sultana Scones
• Congress Tarts
• Parsnip Cake
• Fruit Tea Loaf

🥙 Substitutions

• Butter - use block margarine for baking or a mixture of butter and lard.
• Coconut - use oats or crushed cornflakes instead.
• Cherries - swap with walnut or pecan halves or even dried cranberries.

📖 Variations

• Chocolate - use 30 g of cocoa powder in place of some of the flour.
• Lemon - stir in the grated zest of a lemon, 2 limes or an orange.

🍣Storage

• Container - these will keep in a tin or other air tight container for at least a week.
• Freezer - well wrap the biscuits and freeze for up to 2 months.

🤔 FAQs

More biscuit recipes

• Flapjacks
• Shrewsbury Biscuits
• Sable Biscuits
• Cornish Fairings
• Chocolate and Hazelnut Shortbread
• Viennese Sandwich Biscuits

📋 Recipe

More British baking recipes

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

Do you have a question or did you make the recipe?

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