How can a cookie with only 6 simple ingredients taste this good!!! Well, they’re not called Marvelous Melting Moments without good reason. One bite of these sweet temptations and, from the rich, tender crumb of the cookie, you’ll find they quickly melt in your mouth.
Made only with butter (absolutely no substitutions on this one), icing sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar), vanilla, flour, cornstarch, and salt, they’re easy to make and delightful to eat! And, they make wonderful gifts, too, and are also a special addition to any holiday sweet tray.
My mother always comments on how “short” these cookies are. “Shortness” in a cookie is characterized by the amount of fat and sugar present and the high ratio of butter to flour in the recipe. To get the high degree of tenderness that is the hallmark of a “short” cookie, a lot of butter is used in the dough and, the more fat content, the more tender and rich the cookie crumb will be.
It’s important that these cookies not be over-handled or over-mixed as they will become tough. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth then incorporate the dry ingredients. This cookie dough is too tender to roll out because it won’t hold together to cut shapes from so simply pinch off pieces of the dough and quickly form them into small balls. Don’t over-work them as the dough will become warm and, subsequently, sticky. As a mark of reference, I use about 5/8 oz of dough per ball. Now, I don’t stop and weigh the dough for each cookie because, from experience, I can “eyeball” how much dough is needed per cookie but it’s good to have a frame of reference as to the size of the cookie ball. Place the cookie balls on parchment-lined baking sheets. Use the tines of a fork to flatten the cookies and decorate each with a tiny bit of maraschino cherry, if desired.
These cookies freeze very well so they can be made well ahead and frozen until they are needed. Melting Moments are the perfect Christmas or anytime cookie!
[Printable recipe follows at end of posting]
Melting Moments
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter ½ cup sifted icing sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar) 1 tsp pure vanilla 1½ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup cornstarch 1/8 tsp salt
Maraschino cherries for decorations (if desired)
Method:
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper Cream butter. Add the icing sugar and cream well with the butter. Mix in vanilla.
In separate bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, and salt together. Add to the creamed mixture and blend until well incorporated.
Form dough into small round balls (apx. 5/8 oz dough per ball). Place balls on prepared baking sheets and flatten each ball with the tines of a fork. Decorate with small bits of maraschino cherries, if desired.
Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes. Don’t over-bake cookies. Let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.
A delightful melt-in-your mouth shortbread-type cookie with a rich and tender crumb.
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter
½ cup sifted icing sugar (aka powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar)
1 tsp pure vanilla
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
Maraschino cherries for decorations (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream butter. Add the icing sugar and cream well with the butter. Mix in vanilla.
In separate bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, and salt together. Add to the creamed mixture and blend until well incorporated.
Form dough into small round balls (apx. 5/8 oz dough per ball). Place balls on prepared baking sheets and flatten each ball with the tines of a fork. Decorate with small bits of maraschino cherries, if desired.
Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes. Don’t over-bake cookies. Let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.
If you have made this recipe and enjoyed it and/or wish to share it with your friends and family, please do so on social media but be sure to share the direct link to this posting from my website.
For other similar cookie recipes from My Island Bistro Kitchen, click on the links below:
Scotch Cookies Shortbread Custard Sandwich Cookies
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Make sure your oven isn't too hot - avoid the biscuits cracking and browning by not over-heating your oven. Also turn the trays partway through cooking for even baking. Don't overcook - these cookies do not take long at all to bake!
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.
Keep frozen for up to a year, and once thawed, the melting moments have a refrigerated shelf life of 84 days with the added bonus of up to 84 days ambient shelf life.
The cornstarch lowers the protein of the flour, which produces a more tender biscuit. The heavy cream provides the fat that helps create the flaky layers in great biscuits.
If your cookies repeatedly turn out flat, no matter the recipe, chances are your oven is too hot. Here's what's happening. The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure.
While they are VERY similar in taste, texture and appearance, they are different to one another. Yo Yo biscuits are made using custard powder which gives them the most INCREDIBLE, creamy flavour. What is this? Whereas melting moments (which are also delicious) are made using cornflour.
As it turns out, using aluminum foil will actually lead to your cookies being baked unevenly. Here's how it works: Because aluminum is a heat conductor, the part of the cookie that is directly touching the aluminum foil (i.e. the bottom) will receive more heat and, thus, bake faster.
Using parchment paper for baking cookies will enable them to bake more evenly, and the non-stick quality will also help prevent them from cracking or breaking when lifting them off the sheet.
Frequently, people tell us that they store candy wafers in their refrigerator or freezer – be warned, this is a major no-no in the candy making world. Freezers and refrigerators hold a lot of moisture and that moisture will be absorbed by your candy.
Do Candy Melts expire? Though they will last a while if stored properly, Candy Melts are best used within 18 months of the date they were made. Each package contains a stamped series of numbers and letters to help mark the date they were packaged.
But to get the rise you want without killing the tang (which would be the result of too much baking soda), you'll need to incorporate baking powder as well, taking advantage of the delayed double-action to add even more levity. Combining the two leavening agents produces a biscuit that is both light and tangy.
If the goal is a chewy cookie, then you absolutely need to be using melted butter. The technique of creaming softened butter and sugar together is often used for making cakes. And for good reason! The process of creaming incorporates air into the butter which results in a more airy and cakey cookie.
When dough doesn't have enough water, or if it's not properly hydrated (more on that below), it will feel and look dry and be prone to cracking. Not good. See the video above for an example of properly hydrated dough.
Issues with cracking usually derive from the sugar coating, not enough or expired baking powder or baking soda, or the oven temperature isn't hot enough. Solution: Granulated sugar is more effective at drying the surface than powdered sugar.
If the dough was too dry it can form a crust too early before it's had time to rise, then when it begins to rise it forms cracks which then burst in odd places when the pressure builds up. Steam is important in this stage of baking of some breads like sourdoughs so it's a good thing to try and use steam.
There are a few things you can do if your cookie dough is too dry and crumbly. First, try adding more liquid to the dough. This could be milk, water, or even just additional eggs. If that doesn't work, you could also try melting some butter and adding it to the dough.
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