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A white cake stand with yo yo biscuits that have pink and blue filling.

Yo-Yo Biscuits

Classic melt-in-your-mouth yo yo biscuits with a sweet creamy filling. These soft and crumbly custard cookies are inspired by the original CWA recipe.
5 from 93 votes
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Course: Biscuits
Cuisine: Australian recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 20 serves
Calories: 172kcal

Equipment

  • Beaters, stand-mixer or Thermomix
  • Oven

Ingredients

  • 180 g butter at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • cup (50g) icing sugar
  • 1 cup (150g) self raising flour
  • ½ cup (75g) plain flour
  • ½ cup (60g) custard powder

For the filling

  • 250 g icing sugar
  • 40 g butter at room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla esence
  • ½ tsp lemon juice
  • 1 drop pink food colouring optional

Instructions

Conventional Method

  • Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
  • Line two baking trays with baking paper.
  • Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl.
  • Add the butter and vanilla essence.
  • Beat with a stand mixer or hand-held beaters until smooth and creamy.
  • Sift into the bowl the self raising flour, plain flour and custard powder. Stir well to combine.
  • Roll mixture into teaspoonful sized balls and place 5cm apart on the prepared baking trays.
  • Press the tops of the balls lightly with a fork.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just ever so lightly golden.
  • Leave to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • To make the filling, beat the butter, vanilla essence and lemon juice until smooth and creamy.
  • Slowly add the sifted icing sugar, beating well in between additions.
  • When the mixture is completely combined and smooth, add one drop of pink food colouring and beat until the colour is evenly dispersed.
  • Join two biscuits together with 1tsp of filling.

Thermomix Method

  • Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius (fan-forced). Line two baking trays with baking paper.
  • Measure the self raising flour, plain flour and custard powder into the TM bowl and sift on Speed 3 for 30 seconds to combine. Place the flour mixture into a separate bowl and set aside.
  • Place the butter, vanilla essence and icing sugar in the TM bowl. Beat on Speed 4 for approximately 1 minute or until the mixture is pale, fluffy and smooth.
  • Add the flour mixture and combine on Speed 1, slowly increasing to Speed 4 until smooth and completely combined (if your mixture is too sticky, add a little more flour).
  • Roll mixture into teaspoonful sized balls and place 5cm apart on the prepared baking trays. Press the tops of the balls lightly with a fork.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just lightly golden. Leave to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • To make the filling, combine the butter and icing sugar on Speed 4 until pale and smooth. Add the vanilla essence, lemon juice and one drop of pink food colouring. Beat for 1 minute, Speed 6, or until smooth and fluffy.
  • Join two biscuits together with 1 teaspoon of filling.

Notes

RECIPE NOTES & TIPS
  • Roll the dough into very small balls – because you will be sandwiching two of the biscuits together with the filling, you want to ensure that they are small in size. Think petite little afternoon tea bites!
  • Press down lightly with a fork – get that classic lined appearance by very gently pressing down on the top of the dough balls with a fork.
  • Make sure your oven isn’t too hot – avoid the biscuits cracking by not over-heating your oven. Turn the trays partway through cooking.
  • Don’t overcook – these cookies do not take long at all to bake! Remove from the oven after 10 minutes (12 if your biscuits are slightly bigger) and allow to cool. The biscuits will firm on cooling.
  • Icing sugar options – you can use either soft icing sugar mixture or pure icing sugar for the filling. I like to use pure icing sugar as it helps to set the filling firm. Either soft icing sugar mixture or pure icing sugar can be used in the biscuit mixture.
  • Store the yo yo biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
  • Alternatively, freeze in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Nutrition

Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 81mg | Potassium: 15mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 275IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.2mg