Macadamia and Davidson Plum Melting Moments

I love a good melting moment. They are a classic Australian sandwich biscuit (or cookie if you are outside of Australia), and paired with macadamia and Davidson Plum they just end up being a little more Australian for it.

Davidson Plum is an native Australian fruit, purple like many plum varieties, however not technically part of the plum family. Often called ooray by Indigenous Australians, this fruit was traditionally eaten raw and used for medicinal purposes. Now it is often found in freeze dried powder form.

The freeze dried powder gives an intense purple colour, though quite a mild flavour when used in smaller quantities (such as this recipe). Davidson Plum is quite sour, so if you want to increase the quantities in the icing, just keep that in mind and taste and you go.

If you don’t have access to freeze dried Davidson Plum powder, you can substitute with freeze dried blackberry or raspberry powder.

Macadamia and Davidson Plum Melting Moments

Ingredients:   

65g macadamias                                    

300g unsalted butter, softened

120g icing sugar/mixture

450g plain flour

Ingredients for the filling:

80g unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar/mixture

2 tsp Davidson Plum powder

Method: 

Preheat oven to 145 degrees Celsius, and line three large baking trays with baking paper. 

Place the macadamias on one of the prepared trays, and toast in the oven for about 5-7 minutes, or until the macadamias are lightly golden.

Allow the macadamias to cool, then chop roughly into small pieces. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until creamy.

Add the flour and chopped macadamias to the creamed butter, and mix on low speed until a dough forms (cover your mixer with a tea towel to avoid the flour going everywhere). 

Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the prepared trays (you should end up with 40-44 individual dough balls/biscuits) leaving a little space in between each). Then lightly press down each ball with the back of a fork so they flatten out a little. Dip your fork in flour if it is sticking to the dough.

Bake for 25 minutes. They will be cooked when the undersides of the biscuits are lightly golden. To ensure a even bake, rotate the baking trays in the oven around half way through. 

Allow to cool on their trays.

Once the biscuits have cooled make the filling by beating the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or by using a hand held mixer. Mix until light and fluffy and everything is well combined. Then add the Davidson Plum powder and mix until combined. 

Pair up the cooked biscuits, and turn one from each pair over so the underside is facing up. Spread or pipe the filling on to the underside of one biscuit in each biscuit pair, then gently sandwich the paired biscuits together. 

Gingerbread Melting Moments

These are a cross between a melting moment and a gingerbread biscuit and if I do say so myself, they are very good!

Like regular gingerbread biscuit the flavour improves over a day or two. You can mix up the spices if you like, but I highly recommend having a variety of spices like those in the ingredients list.

These would make a nice gift, however they are equally nice just to have in the biscuit jar at home for something to nibble on in the lead up to Christmas.

Gingerbread Melting Moments

Ingredients:                                       

300g unsalted butter, softened

100g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

450g plain flour

1.5 tsp ground ginger

1.5 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cardamom

Ingredients for the filling:

80g unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp ground cardamom 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 145 degrees Celsius, and line three large baking trays with baking paper. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla  until creamy.

Add the flour and spices to the creamed butter, and mix on low speed until a dough forms. 

Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the prepared trays (you should end up with 40-44 individual dough balls/biscuits) leaving a little space in between each. Then lightly press down each ball with the back of a fork so they flatten out a little. Dip your fork in flour if it is sticking to the dough.

Bake for 25 minutes. They will be cooked when the undersides of the biscuits are lightly golden. To ensure a even bake, rotate the baking trays in the oven around half way through. 

Allow to cool on their trays.

Once the biscuits have cooled make the filling by beating all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or by using a hand held mixer. Mix until light and fluffy and everything is well combined. 

Pair up the cooked biscuits, and turn one from each pair over so the underside is facing up. Spread or pipe the filling on to the underside of one biscuit in each biscuit pair, then gently sandwich the paired biscuits together.

Leave the biscuits for half an hour or so for the filling to firm up a bit (you can do this in the fridge in warmer weather). Biscuits will store well in an airtight container for a few days. 

Makes about 46 individual biscuits and 23 sandwiched biscuits. 

Vanilla Sprinkle Melting Moments

I was inspired to make these simple vanilla sprinkle melting moments after eating some delicious biscuits made by The Flour Millers Wife. Em of The Flour Millers Wife is based in Manildra NSW and bakes delicious biscuits that are sold in a few stores across the Central West of NSW. 

I have been following Em on Instagram for a little while, and always thought the biscuits she makes look so good. I managed to find some when I was in Orange recently and they tasted as good as they looked! 

I especially enjoyed Em’s Sprinkle Yo-Yos, which are what gave me the inspiration to make these melting moments. I’m not sure exactly what the difference between melting moments and yo-yos are, or even if there is much of a difference. But since I have adapted my original melting moment recipe to make these, I haven’t altered the name. 

Biscuits by The Flour Millers Wife I bought in Orange - Two packets of honey jumbles, white chocolate and cranberry biscuits and the Sprinkle Yo-Yo Biscuits.

My version are very different from Em’s which are much smaller and have a softer crumblier style biscuit, but I think that’s the joy of finding inspiration in what other people bake. It’s not about replicating it exactly, but using it as inspiration to create a new recipe. 

And this way I can enjoy my own melting moments, and still look forward to having some of The Flour Miller’s Wife’s creation next time I am in the Central West! Thank you for the inspiration Em! And keep any eye out for her biscuits if you are around Orange, Molong or Carcoar - and in the mean time, have a go at the recipe below!

Vanilla Sprinkle Melting Moments

Ingredients:                                       

300g unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g icing sugar/mixture

420g plain flour

50g custard powder

Ingredients for the filling:

80g unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar/mixture

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Sprinkles/100s and 1000s, to decorate

Method: 

Preheat oven to 145 degrees Celsius, and line three large baking trays with baking paper. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and vanillas until creamy.

Add the flour and custard powder to the creamed butter, and mix on the lowest speed until a dough forms. 

Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the prepared trays (you should end up with 40-44 individual dough balls/biscuits) leaving a little space in between each (they won’t spread much when baking). Then lightly press down each ball with the back of a fork so they flatten out a little. Dip your fork in flour if it is sticking to the dough.

Bake for 25 minutes. They will be cooked when the undersides of the biscuits are lightly golden. To ensure a even bake, rotate the baking trays in the oven around half way through. 

Allow to cool on their trays.

Once the biscuits have cooled make the filling by beating all the ingredients except the sprinkles in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or by using a hand held mixer. Mix until light and fluffy and everything is well combined. 

Pair up the cooked biscuits, and turn one from each pair over so the underside is facing up. Spread or pipe the filling on to the underside of one biscuit in each biscuit pair, then gently sandwich the paired biscuits together. 

Pour some sprinkles into a bowl and dip the edges of each sandwiched biscuit into it, pushing the sprinkles into the sides of the filling.

Leave the biscuits for half an hour or so for the filling to firm up a bit (you can do this in the fridge in warmer weather). Biscuits will store well in an airtight container for a few days. 

Makes 40-44 individual biscuits and 20-22 sandwiched biscuits. 

Bergamot Melting Moments

I think melting moments (or yo-yos as they are sometimes known) are such a cheery biscuit. They are wholesome and comforting in a tasty and sturdy way, and are something I think adults and kids alike would enjoy. And they are quite simple to make as well. 

You only need four ingredients, and I thought the longest part of the whole recipe was rolling out the dough into balls to form the biscuits - which honestly wasn’t that long, but the rest of the steps are really quite quick. 

My love for bergamot is probably well known by now, and since we have many to use at the moment these melting moments had to be flavoured with bergamot. However you can use whatever citrus you like instead. 

This recipe is slightly adapted from one I created last year for The Healthy Baker, which you can check out if you want a slightly different take on the traditional melting moment.

Bergamot Melting Moments

Ingredients:                                       

300g unsalted butter, softened

120g icing sugar/mixture

Finely grated zest of 1/2 bergamot

450g plain flour

Ingredients for the filling:

80g unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar/mixture

3 tsp fresh bergamot juice

Finely grated zest of 1/2 bergamot 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 145 degrees Celsius, and line three large baking trays with baking paper. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and bergamot zest until creamy.

Add the flour to the creamed butter, and mix on low speed until a dough forms. 

Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on the prepared trays (you should end up with 40-44 individual dough balls/biscuits) leaving a little space in between each. Then lightly press down each ball with the back of a fork so they flatten out a little. Dip your fork in flour if it is sticking to the dough.

Bake for 25 minutes. They will be cooked when the undersides of the biscuits are lightly golden. To ensure an even bake, rotate the baking trays in the oven around half way through. 

Allow to cool on their trays.

Once the biscuits have cooled make the filling by beating all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or by using a hand held mixer. Mix until light and fluffy and everything is well combined. 

Pair up the cooked biscuits, and turn one from each pair over so the underside is facing up. Spread or pipe the filling on to the underside of one biscuit in each biscuit pair, then gently sandwich the paired biscuits together. 

Leave the biscuits for half an hour or so for the filling to firm up a bit (you can do this in the fridge in warmer weather). Biscuits will store well in an airtight container for a few days. 

Makes 40-44 individual biscuits and 20-22 sandwiched biscuits.