Gluten Free Melting Moments
Light shortbread biscuits sandwiched together with vanilla and strawberry buttercream, these gluten free melting moments are a true melt-in-your-mouth delight.
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Makes: 15 sandwiched biscuits.
Ingredients
For the Melting Moment Biscuits
- 270 g gluten free plain flour, see notes
- 60 g cornflour, (cornstarch)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, see notes
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 200 g unsalted butter, softened
- 100 g icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
For the Buttercream Icing
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 200 g icing sugar, sifted
- 1-2 teaspoons hot milk or water
Instructions
Make the Biscuits
- Heat oven to 180°C and line 2-3 baking trays with baking paper.
- Sift together the gluten free flour, cornflour, xanthan gum and baking powder into a bowl and whisk to combine well.
- Place the butter and vanilla into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the icing sugar and continue beating for 2-3 minutes, until very light and fluffy.
- Add the flour in 2-3 additions. You can beat the first 2 additions in with the electric mixer, but it's best to stir the final addition in with a wooden spoon or large spatula, to avoid overworking the mixer motor.
- The dough should be soft, but firm enough to hold together in a ball. If it’s slightly too soft, you can chill it for a few minutes to firm it up. If it’s way too soft, it may be due to the kind of flour used, and you might need to add in a little more flour a tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together.
- Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and arrange them on the prepared baking trays. You should have around 30 balls of dough. Gently flatten each ball with a fork.
- Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes. They should be lightly golden on the bottoms, but they won't brown much on top. Leave on the trays until cool enough to handle, then gently move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Buttercream
- Beat the butter and vanilla in a medium bowl until creamy. Add the sifted icing sugar in 2-3 additions, using low speed to avoid an icing sugar storm. Increase the mixer speed, and beat until very light and fluffy.
- Add just enough hot milk or water to make the icing a spreadable consistency. It should still be quite stiff, otherwise it will squish out when you bite into the biscuits.
- Pipe or spread the icing onto half of the cooled biscuits, and sandwich with the remaining biscuits. Dust with icing sugar, if you like.Store the melting moments in an airtight container. They should last for a week or so.
Notes
Gluten free flour - I use my favourite gluten-free flour blend to make these biscuits. You can try using your own favourite GF flour, however your results may vary from mine, because different blends contain different ingredients. If you’re using a pre-made gluten-free flour blend that contains a gum ingredient (usually listed as xanthan gum, guar gum, vegetable gum or “thickener” in the ingredients on the packet) then you can omit the xanthan gum from this recipe.
Make sure you check that your cornflour, baking powder and icing sugar are all gluten free.
The buttercream can be flavoured however you like. In place of the vanilla, you can add any other kind of extract or oil-based flavouring. Because these vary in strength, add them a little at a time, tasting the icing as you go. For fruit flavours, try sifted freeze-dried fruit powder. I like to add a drop or two of food colouring to enhance the colour of the fruit powder, but that's completely optional.
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