Melting Moments

Melting moments are a traditional shortbread biscuit sandwiched together with a tangy lemon buttercream. This version is the Aussie classic you remember but made egg free, dairy free and vegan so everyone can enjoy this sweet and delicate cookie.

Course Morning Tea

Cuisine Australian

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Total Time 40

Servings biscuits

Calories 280kcal

Author Sally

Ingredients

For the biscuits:

⅔ cup (160 grams) dairy-free butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup icing sugar
1 cup plain flour
¼ cup cornflour

For the filling:

¼ cup (60 grams) dairy-free butter
1 ½ cups icing sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Place the dairy-free butter, icing sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment fitted. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add in the flour and cornflour and continue to mix until a smooth dough forms.
If the dough is feeling too sticky, refrigerate for about 30 minutes to make it easier to handle. Roll tablespoons of dough until you have 20 total, and place evenly spaced 2 cm apart on the baking tray. Using a lightly floured fork, gently press the dough. You want to make sure that they are fairly evenly shaped.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges around the bottom are slightly golden, you want the tops to still be quite pale. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before filling.
While the cookies are baking, make the filling. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using an electric hand mixer) beat together the dairy-free butter, icing sugar and lemon zest and juice until smooth and creamy. Place the frosting covered with plastic wrap in the fridge to cool until ready to use.
Using a knife or a piping bag to place the filling on half of the cookies and sandwich together with the remaining cookies (you should be left with 10 full cookies).

Video

Notes

If you find yourself making these on a hot day, once you fill the cookies, place them in the fridge to help set the icing otherwise your top biscuits may slide off. This is also why you want to make sure your icing is really cold before filling.

For a vanilla filling instead of lemon, simply omit the lemon zest and juice and replace with 1 teaspoon of vanilla and ½ - 1 tablespoon of dairy-free milk.

I use Nuttelex to replace butter in most of my recipes as it is vegan and gives a 'buttery' flavour without being greasy. As this is an Australian product, the closest US alternative I believe is Earth Balance. Otherwise any dairy-free spread will work.

Nutrition