These Melting Moments truly are the lightest, most delicious, melt in your mouth, shortbread cookies that I’ve ever tried. Wonderful dipped in chocolate & freeze well too.
Melting Moments
These melting moments cookies have been made in our family for decades from a recipe passed around by the bakers in our clan. Because of the potato flour (potato starch) in the recipe they are by far the lightest shortbread recipe that I have ever tried.
These really do melt in your mouth. My mom makes these with gumdrops on top.
My 9 year old daughter made these and she loves them dipped in chocolate. These had to get to the freezer particularly quickly and I doubt they are safe there.
Melting Moments
My favourite as a child was always to top the cookie with a baking gum (gumdrop) . I always picked it off the cookie and saved it until the end.It always seemed like an extra little treat for when you finished the cookie.
I always get questions about the gumdrops for the tops of these cookies. Here in Canada, these baking gums (gumdrops) are carried by Bulk Barn, but I have been told sometimes only seasonally.
Baking gums. Firmer gumdrops made specifically for baking.
If you can’t find them try cutting up larger gumdrops instead. Very soft gumdrops are not suitable though. Be sure to use the firmest ones you can find.
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Melting Moments
This recipe was originally published on Dec 10 2007. Updated November 2017 to add new photos, metric measurements if required and nutritional information.
Melting Moments
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Melting Moments
These Melting Moments truly are the lightest, most delicious, melt in your mouth, shortbread cookies that I've ever tried. Wonderful dipped in chocolate & freeze well too.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 2/3 cup icing sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp lemon extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup potato flour, (substitute potato starch if potato flour is not available)
Instructions
- Cream together the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and lemon extracts.
- Sift together the all purpose flour and potato flour.
- Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and blend together until a soft dough is formed.
- Roll n one inch balls and place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Flatten the balls slightly with a fork and add a gumdrop or half a glace cherry to the center of each cookie if desired.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until very slightly brown. These will still be quite pale when baked.
- Cool on a wire rack. These are also very good dipped in chocolate.
Notes
The potato flour we uses years ago in this recipe is harder to find nowadays. It is not the yellow tinged potato flour sometimes sold at bulk stores. It is more similar in texture to corn starch, so if you cannot find it, that would be an acceptable substitute.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
24Serving Size
24 cookiesAmount Per Serving Calories 123 Total Fat 8g Saturated Fat 5g Trans Fat 0g Unsaturated Fat 2g Cholesterol 20mg Sodium 65mg Carbohydrates 13g Net Carbohydrates 0g Fiber 1g Sugar 3g Sugar Alcohols 0g Protein 1g
These look really good but I live in a remote community in NWT and cannot get potato flour. Can I just double the regular flour?
No, you need something lighter than regular flour. You might want too try cake flour, rice flour or,even corn starh as a last resort but I really haven’t ever made them without the potato flour. They really do melt in your mouth they are so light. They well deserve their name.
My thoughts exactly!
I’m going to see if the store we work for (The Northern) can order in cake flour. If not I’ll try it with corn starch and let you know! Thanks!
Hi, Can you please tell me the difference between regular flour and cake flour. Where I come from we have cake flour, bread flour (different types) and corn starch? Bread flour is heavier than cake. Could you not just use all cake flour?
Remember that cake flour was only mentioned as a possible substitution.The distinct melting texture of these is due to the use of potato flour which is much lighter than any wheat flour. Potato flour is not difficult to find in small packages in most supermarkets. Possibly near the corn starch. From where are you writing?
I was wondering what choc. recipe did you use for dipping the melting moment cookies in?
I just melt chocolate chips in a double boiler to dip them in.
I make these all the time and substitute corn starch for the potato flour…Works VERY well!…Just sift it together with the flour or use a whisk until the lumps in the corn starch are gone! 🙂
Would corn flour work?
It probably will but I haven’t tried it.
Okay…I’m going to give it a try. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks
Kim
I made these last night and was delighted with the recipe and the results. I found potato flour at my local gracery store in Ottawa in the baking aisle – I believe Club house was the brand. They also carried rice flour by the same company. We plan to make these again substituting mint for the lemon extract, and also plan to double the vanilla and add delete the lemon extract, then mix in the seeds of a vanilla bean when we cream together the butter and sugar. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Do I have to use lemon extract? Can I subsitute anything else?
Not necessary for the success of the recipe. you can add more vanilla if you like.
How much do you flatten them, because my dough was cracking as I flattened them???
try Whole Foods, Vitamin Cottage or any natural grocery store. They have most of your alternative flours due to the rise in gluten sensitivities. Sounds like a nice recipe to try. I love shortbread, it really is versatile when decorating for gifts.
Do you use potato flour or potato starch? I just made a batch with potato flour and wasn’t happy with them!
It’s labelled potato flour on the bag I use. Different locations might label it differently. It does have a consistency of corn starch though. Very fine.
can you explain what you mean by icing sugar for the melting moments? you are not real clear on this.
Icing sugar is powdered sugar or confectioners sugar. Different names, same thing.
hi
is it potato flour or potato starch?
just double checking….
thanks
linda
What I use lis balled potato flour although I’ve been told they are the same thing.
I’m from the USA and tried the recipe using what we call potato flour. The cookies were terrible, dry, grainy, not melt in your mouth. I bet it is called potato starch, which is very different and more like cornstarch, which is usually what I use in shortbread type cookies. So if people are having a hard time finding potato flour, try potato starch instead.
It is sold here as potato flour but it is quite fine like cornstarch, so you are no doubt right there.
I was unable to find potato flour in my local grocery store. I found fine ground almond flour in the gluten free section and purchased it. In the past I have always used corn starch and the cookies turned out delicious. Just wondering if the almond flour would also work as a substitute for the potato flour. I did not realize at the time I purchased the almond flour that it was VERY expensive so I do not want to use it unless it would work in this recipe. If not I want to return it.
No almond flour is far too heavy. Try the bulk store for potato starch or potato flour.
Just made these and substituted cornstarch for the potato flour and they are delish! I dipped half in dark chocolate and dusted the other half in confectioners sugar!
I too have a Melting moments recipe that has been in my family for at least 80 years. It doesn’t use potato flour and they are excellent. I will try the potato flour though and see what happens. I have just passed my recipe on to my granddaughter and she loves its simplicity. She is 9 years old.
I was not able to find potato flour at my local grocery store. But I noticed that there was potato starch on the shelf.
As I understand it, there is a difference between the two products. I’m wondering though, if the potato starch can be used instead of the potato flour in this recipe?
I’ve only used the flour but the starch certainly wouldn’t ruin the recipe.
For step 3, where it says blend the flour in with the creamed mixture, can you use an electric mixer for that, or just mix it in with a wooden spoon?
Spoon is best.
My melting moments were an absolute flop I cannot understand 2/3 icing sugar does this mean 2 or 3 cups icing sugar and a cup of butter can this please be quoted in metric as my mixture was so dry I had to add more butter to my standard cup end result melting moment snaps looking like brandy snaps
2/3 is a fraction of a cup! Not 2 or 3 cups.
So I just made these and they taste lovely but they flattened completely out to I would say about 3 inches wide. Any thoughts on what I did wrong? I didn’t have lemon extract so I just used extra vanilla instead. And at Bulk Barn I bought potato starch as I couldn’t find potato flour. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Did you use real butter? Never ever had that happen with this recipe. Potato starch is fine to use in this recipe.
I used the Parkay blocks but I’ve used them many times with a traditional shortbread recipe and they don’t flatten out. I’m thinking I might have over mixed the butter, I’ll have to try them again. Thanks!
Just made these this morning. i did use cornstarch as nothing else readily available and they came out perfect. The dough was a bit sticky so I just chilled it for a bit and it was easier to roll into balls. Used half cherries as suggested for the festive look as garnish on top. Thanks Barry for another amazing recipe. Gail
Wonderful recipe that makes a memorable cookie A new found tradition for Christmas baking in my kitchen. ( I made them much smaller than suggested.)
Hi Barry ,
Just wondering where you buy potato flour in St. John’s , and what brand is it you get ? Thanks