Buttery, melt-in-the-mouth cookies with a sweet and lightly citrusy filling to match. These Melting Moments are a delicate delight!
It’s strange that I neither feel sad nor happy that I haven’t been making anything in the kitchen for months. I managed to squeeze in these Melting Moments Cookies once out of the need to use up some leftover custard powder in the pantry, but that’s about one of the last times I actually baked this year.
I don’t know what’s go on with me, but there was a time when working my day-job and working on the blog at the same time became so exhausting I just wanted to drop everything and hide inside a cave. Obviously that’s not a practical thing to do, so I started to look for something that would allow me to step away from those things even for short periods of time. A therapy, if you will.
Turns out I didn’t need to look very far– I just needed to reconnect with something I used to love doing. It’s interesting how feeling like I’m in a rut in terms of my profession life somehow helped me to find my way back to art and painting. It was akin to remembering how first love felt, because this was indeed what I spent so much time doing as a child before I discovered how much I loved writing and photography as a teen.
One afternoon, I pulled out the blank notebook I had been saving up “for a special occasion” (whatever that means), sat down, and started to draw based on my memories and my feelings about one particular thing.
For some reason, the drawing ended up being about my first set of experiences watching Broadway shows in New York City last year. But then it continued on from there. Before I knew it, I had started a travel journal.
[READ ALSO: 12 Tips for Your First Time in New York City]
To be entirely honest with you, the whole time I was rediscovering my love for painting and drawing, I wasn’t thinking about the blog. I was always raring to finish up my work at the office too just so I could come home early to continue with my sketches. And somehow all those moments I spent away from the blog helped me to miss it a little.
I know that adding back art into my list of hobbies only means that I’m spreading myself thin when I have only one rest day per week, but this therapy seems to be helping me to get my groove back. As I was painting the part about my visit to Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, I started to remember how much the foodie in me loved the desserts there. I remembered thinking at that time that I wanted to make something as good in my own kitchen.
And somehow that kind of lit something up in me. It felt like a small trickle of water from the well of passion that’s been missing in me for a while.
And so here I am today, writing about these Melting Moments Cookies that I actually went and made myself. These wonderfully delicate cookies are called Melting Moments for a reason, and that’s because they tend to melt in the mouth when eaten.
They’re made with a good amount of butter, as well as flour and cornstarch. I actually used custard powder in the place of cornstarch when I made mine, but I don’t think it’s easy to find this ingredient locally so just use what’s available. The cornstarch is what will make these melt-in-the-mouth, which is why sometimes these are also called cornstarch cookies.
And just to make things even better, these cookies hold a bit of lemon filling between them. Some people actually just like to eat the cookies on their own, but I think the filling adds some sweet tartness that is quite enjoyable. (Just don’t go overboard because it might become too sweet!)
With this version of Melting Moments, you get a buttery-crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth cookie with a hit of citrus in every bite. Cute, delicious, and perfect with tea! I enjoyed munching on these while doing my travel drawings. 🙂
Melting Moments Cookies
Makes about 12 sandwich cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 125 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 115 grams ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 45 grams 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, plus more for topping
- 50 grams 1/3 cup custard powder or cornstarch
For the filling*
- 30 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 55 grams 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ½ Tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
Make the cookies
- 1. Preheat oven to 320°F (160°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
- 2. In a bowl, beat the butter until pale and creamy. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the flour, confectioner’s sugar, and custard powder/cornstarch until combined.
- 3. Scoop out teaspoonful portions of dough and roll into balls using your hands. Place about 3 cm apart on the lined baking trays. Using a fork dusted with sugar, gently flatten the balls, allowing the tines of the fork to create marks on the dough. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
- 4. Bake cookies in preheated oven for 15 minutes, making sure to swap the position of the trays halfway through the baking time if baking two trays at once. The cookies will not spread or darken visibly, but they should be firm and cooked through. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes.
Make the filling
- 5. In a small bowl, beat together the butter and confectioner’s sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the lemon zest and juice, beating until combined.
To assemble
- 6. Pair up the cooled cookies by size. Spread the filling on the center of the flat side of one biscuit and sandwich with its partner. Don’t put too much filling or it will spill out the sides and cause the cookies to slip and slide. I like to add the filling at the center part since it will spread out to the edges once you top it with the other cookie.
Notes
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