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.
NOTE:
I am often asked about potato flour, an ingredient originally called for in this recipe, when we first posted it over a decade ago. It seems that the brand I once used no longer is called potato flour as it was years ago. Potato flour now refers to finely ground dehydrated potato. That is not want you want to use in this recipe.
Potato starch is much finer textured, very much like corn starch. If you cannot find potato starch, use cornstarch instead.
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Melting Moments
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This recipe was originally published on Dec 10 2007. Updated November 2020.
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 starch, (substitute cornstarch if potato starch 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
I am often asked about potato flour, an ingredient originally called for in this recipe, when we first posted it over a decade ago. It seems that the brand I once used no longer is called potato flour as it was years ago. Potato flour now refers to finely ground dehydrated potato. That is not want you want to use in this recipe.
Potato starch is much finer textured, very much like corn starch. If you cannot find potato starch, use cornstarch instead.
Recommended Products
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Nutrition Information
Yield
24Serving Size
24 cookiesAmount Per Serving Calories 123Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 20mgSodium 65mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 1g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Pamela Douglas
Sunday 11th of December 2022
I used corn starch in lieu of potato starch and they were perfect. Melt in your mouth. Hard to keep them around for Christmas.🎄
Momcat
Saturday 3rd of December 2022
For many years my MIL used the recipe on the Canada Corn Starch box which is very similar to this. I have never tried using the potato starch but did use rice flour as a substitution for the corn starch and is was also successful. For those who feel the need to ‘doctor’ Christmas baking by substituting (very unhealthy) block margarine, Just.Don’t. I taught Heart Healthy eating classes at a large cardiac institute and a popular question from patients and their families was ‘What should we substitute for butter in Holiday baking?
We know now that heavily hydrogenated oils (block margarine, vegetable shortening) are worse for you than the saturated fats in butter. I’d feel worse giving my family food made with these highly processed and hydrogenated products then Holiday foods made with butter. I used to ask my groups how often they ate or made shortbread the answer was ‘ Only at Christmas’ so why ruin a recipe only made once a year by using subpar ingredients, misguidedly thinking you are eating healthy? In the end it’s really the portions that matter. Enjoy!
Torey
Saturday 5th of March 2022
Hi. Unfortunately, regular flour absolutely does not work. Cornstarch is your best bet. Using half all-purpose flour and half cornstarch is rather unusual in that a higher percentage of flour to cornstarch is nearly always called for, but if this 50-50 ratio works, this will be an amazingly tender cookie! I'm definitely going to try the recipe.
PAULINE STEWART
Wednesday 15th of December 2021
I just stumbled across this website and it reminded me of yesteryears when I Iived on a farm in southwestern Ontario -- we always made these fabulous shortbread cookies. Since potato starch was hard to get, we used corn starch and the results were the same - heavenly.
Jean Aylward
Wednesday 8th of December 2021
Do you put the dough in the fridge before rolling them into cookies. They are pretty sticky?