These yo yo biscuits are my take on an Aussie classic. Similar to a melting moment, yo yo’s have custard powder in the cookie dough which gives them a lovely, distinct flavour. Buttery and full of vanilla flavour, the aroma filling your kitchen when you bake a batch of these is warming and lovely. They have a soft crumbly texture and they’re truly addictive.
The filling in these sweet treats can vary slightly from a butter icing which sets quite firm (dryish but not in a bad way, it’s delicious) to a more classic buttercream. My yo yo biscuits recipe uses the latter. I love the creamy, soft buttercream in these.
My mother-in-law makes yo yo’s every Christmas for everyone (and often at Easter too) and we all just love them so much. They disappear so quickly.
Try these classic melting moments too.
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Yo yo’s vs melting moments
No, they’re not the same thing. Yo yo’s are probably a take on melting moments but, while melting moments contain cornflour (US cornstarch) in the biscuit, yo yo’s contain custard powder in it’s place. The custard powder gives them a distinctive aroma and flavour.
Ingredients & substitutions
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
- Flour: Plain flour, aka all purpose flour.
- Icing sugar, aka powdered sugar or confectioners sugar, is used to sweeten both the biscuit and the creamy filling.
- Custard powder is a shelf-stable powder that, with the addition of milk, is turned into runny custard (aka creme anglaise). You can’t make yo yo’s without it (but you could make melting moments instead).
- Butter: Use unsalted butter in these cookies.
- Vanilla extract is important for the vanilla flavour. Don’t be tempted to use vanilla essence as it’s a synthetic flavouring and not nearly as good.
Sometimes a little passionfruit pulp or lemon juice is added to the creamy filling for flavour and sometimes food colouring is added to make them colourful.
How to make yo yo biscuits
With just 5 ingredients, these classic custard flavoured cookies come together in no time.
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Make the cookie dough
Start by creaming together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. This is a sticky dough but don’t be tempted to add more flour.
2. Shape and bake
Dust your hands with flour, then roll small balls of the biscuit dough mixture (3 teaspoons worth). I use a very small cookie scoop to make sure I get the same size every time.
Place the cookie dough balls about 4cm/1 ½ inches apart on a lined baking sheet, then bake for 14 minutes until turning golden on the edges.
3. Make the filling
For the buttercream, just beat the ingredients together until light, creamy and fluffy. Then just pipe or spread the buttercream onto the flat side of half the biscuits, then sandwich with another biscuit.
Tips and tricks
- Weigh your ingredients if you want them to look exactly like mine. If you use cups to measure things like flour, icing sugar and custard powder, you can easily end up with too much which will result in a dry biscuit.
- Let your butter soften or come to room temperature before using. This way it beats up nice and creamy for both the cookie dough and the butter cream.
- These biscuits are delicate. It’s part of what gives them that addictive, melt-in-the-mouth texture. So make sure to use enough water to make the icing soft enough to easily spread when you sandwich the biscuits together.
Storage
Yo yo cookies keep well. Store them in the pantry in an airtight container for a week or more. The longer they are stored, the more the buttercream will dry out.
You can also freeze your yoyo biscuits in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
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Ingredients
FOR THE COOKIES
- 226 g unsalted butter softened (1 cup / 2 sticks / 8oz)
- 70 g icing sugar (powdered sugar) (½ cup / 2 ½oz)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 195 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (1 ½ cups / 7oz)
- 70 g custard powder ½ cup / 2 ½oz
FOR THE VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
- 57 g unsalted butter , softened (¼ cup / ½ stick)
- 1 cups icing sugar (powdered sugar) (140g)
- 2-3 teaspoons water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Stand mixer or large mixing bowl with electric mixer
- large baking sheet
Instructions
- FOR THE COOKIES:Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
- In a large bowl with an electric beater or in a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the vanilla and beat well.
- Sift in the flour and custard powder, then mix on low until just incorporated. Scrape around the bowl to make sure there is not pockets of butter left.
- Dust your hands lightly with flour. Roll 2 teaspoons of the cookie dough into balls and place them onto the prepared baking trays about 4cm/1 ½ inches apart.
- Dip a fork in flour and press down lightly on top of each until they are above half the height and about 4cm/1 ½ inches wide, re-flouring the fork each time.
- Bake for 14-15 minutes until they just start to turn golden on the edges. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- FOR THE VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FILLING:Add all ingredients to a bowl (starting with just 2 teaspoons of water) and beat until light and creamy – 3-4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the extra water as needed to make it a soft but spreadable frosting. If it’s too stiff, your biscuits will break when you sandwich them.
- Spread or pipe some buttercream onto the flat side of half of the cookies, then top with another cookie.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Always weigh ingredients like flour, custard powder and icing sugar for best results. Cup measures can hold different amounts depending on how you fill them and it could result in dry cookies. A kitchen scale is cheap and saves you washing up a bunch of cup measures.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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6 Comments on “Yo Yo Biscuits”
Delicious and easy to make. All pantry items I already had which was fantastic.
So happy you love them, Kylie. Thank you so much 🙂
These are delicious, my morning tea ladies loved them. Is there anyway to make them with GF flour as we have a lady who is G F.
So glad you love them, Lynn. Technically, yes, a 1:1 GF flour blend should work but I haven’t yet tested it. I’ll reply back here when I do.
I have just made the yo yo cookies, and I must say they are amazing, the recipe is easy to follow, I did weigh each ball so they were the same weight, I will definitely make there’s again.
I’m so happy you love them, Judith. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.