Yo Yo Biscuits

Yo Yo Biscuits

A classic Australian sandwich cookie, these Yo Yo Biscuits are filled with a tangy lemon frosting and will melt in your mouth!

What are Yo Yo Biscuits?

Yo Yo Biscuits are buttery, melt-in-your-mouth cookies made with the addition of custard powder, making them so deliciously rich! The texture is crumbly and buttery, the filling is a tangy, light lemon frosting and the finished result is the best sandwich cookie imaginable!  Often mistaken for Melting Moments, these classic Yo Yo Biscuits have a softer, crumblier texture, thanks to the custard powder.  And for my USA friends…. “biscuits” in Australia are cookies!

Why these Yo Yo Biscuits are an Aussie favourite:

• I think everyone grew up making them!
• The crumbly, rich cookie is so simple to make
• They’re the perfect morning tea (or afternoon!) treat
• Kids love them in their lunch box
• Yo Yo biscuits are the BEST thing to make for a fete or bake sale (they were a staple when my kids were at school and they, along with my No-Bake Lemon Slice were always the thing that sold out first!)
• There so easily transportable, making them perfect for picnics
• Great for gifting!

6 Ingredients for perfect Yo Yo Biscuits

One of the great things that make these classic Yo Yo Biscuits so easy to make is that there’s no fancy ingredients!  Just 6 simple ingredients are all you need:

1. Unsalted Butter:  at room temperature, for the cookies and the frosting
2. Pure Icing Sugar:  again, for the yo yo cookie and for the filling
3. Custard Powder:  gives that rich flavour and gorgeous yellow appearance
4. Plain Flour:  nothing fancy here
5. Vanilla Extract: for flavour in the cookie
6. Lemon Juice:  freshly squeezed, for a deliciously tangy frosting

Follow these easy steps to make perfect Yo Yo Biscuits

1. Preheat oven and line 2 cookie trays with baking paper
2. Place all of the cookie ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer
3. With a paddle attachment, mix on low at first, then increase speed to medium until mixture is smooth
4. Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out the cookie dough.  Roll into balls and place on the tray
5. Dip a fork into cold water, then press each cookie down lightly, leaving fork marks across the top of each cookie (placing the fork in cold water every so often stops it from sticking to the cookie dough)
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then allow to cool
7. Make the frosting in another bowl, then pipe onto half of the cookies
8. Sandwich together and enjoy!

Tips for making these classic sandwich cookies

Even though this is one of the easiest cookie recipes, great tips never go astray!  So here’s my top 4 tips for making the best Yo Yo Biscuits:

1. Room temp butter: This will ensure everything mixes as it should and without lumps
2. Don’t overmix the dough:  once it’s smooth, stop mixing and roll into balls
3. Use the best quality ingredients:  When flavour is key here, you’ll need the best possible vanilla and custard powder.  And please try to use fresh lemon juice in your filling
4. Add juice 1 tablespoon at a time:  I add the butter, icing sugar and lemon juice all at once, but start with 1 tablespoon first and add more to get the consistency you want.  The filling should be soft, but it should still be firm enough to hold the cookies together.

How to store your beautiful Yo Yo Biscuits

You can eat these beautiful sandwich cookies straight away, or store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.  For this reason, they’re the perfect cookie to make for school fetes, bake sales and for gifting.

These classic Australian cookies go back generations and they never go out of style!  They’re one of my favourite cookies ever and I just know they’ll be one of yours too.

Please don’t forget to leave a comment or rating on my recipe below and feel free to share your creations with me on Instagram -I love seeing what you’ve made!

More reader’s favourite sandwich cookie recipes:

Nutella Filled Brownie Cookies

Homemade Kingston Biscuits

Snickerdoodle Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling

Yo Yo Cookies

A classic Australian buttery sandwich cookie, filled with a tangy lemon frosting

5 from 19 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Afternoon Tea, Dessert, Snack

Servings 14

Equipment

• 2 Cookie Trays

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

Cookies

• 300 g Plain Flour
• 300 g Unsalted Butter room temperature
• 100 g Icing Sugar
• 100 g Custard Powder
• ½ tsp Vanilla Extract

Filling

• 60 g Unsalted butter room temperature
• 200 g Icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp Lemon juice freshly squeezed

Instructions

 

Melting Moment Cookies

• Pre heat oven to 170°C/340°F or 160°FF
• Add cookie ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer
• Beat on low, then increase speed to medium, mixing until smooth
• Roll mixture into small balls and place on a lined cookie tray (I use a 1 tablespoon ice cream scoop, to ensure my cookies are the same size). Leave space for cookies to spread slightly
• Gently press each cookie ball down slightly with a fork
• Bake for 12-15 minutes
• When cooked, remove from oven and gently slide paper off the tray onto a cake cooling rack, allowing the cookies to cool
• While cookies are cooling, make the filling

Lemon Frosting

• Place all 3 ingredients into a mixing bowl, starting with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• Mix on low, then increase speed, until the filling is smooth and a spreadable consistency. Add a little more juice if required
• Transfer piping to a piping bag fitted with a large (8B 1A or 1M piping tip)
• Pipe filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then sandwich together with the other half

Notes

• You can also use a small 2 teaspoon scoop to make smaller cookies.  It should yield around 24 sandwich cookies
• Yo Yo Biscuits can be eaten straight away, or left for an hour or two to allow the filling to harden a little
• Yo Yos will stay fresh for up to 1 week in an airtight container at room temperature

Keyword cookies, dessert, lemon, melting moments, sandwich cookies, yoyos

Have you tried this recipe?Click here to tell me how it was!