Monte Carlos biscuits

I loved organizing Bake Club at our cooking school! It’s a fantastic community where we got to spend quality time together while improving our knowledge and skills. Quite some time ago now, we had a gathering focused on making “Monte Carlos biscuits,” which were originally produced by Arnott’s. We experimented with six distinct recipes, and while they were all delicious, the majority of them lacked the desired crunchiness.

I have remade these recipes many times and consistently achieved similar results, namely a lack of crunchiness. Therefore, I decided to test my pastry chef skills and completely rewrite the recipe from scratch. The previous attempts at the recipe were mostly too soft, so I have developed a completely new recipe (below). I have also created a cookie course that explains in more detail, the methods and ingredients, aimed at helping home bakers adjust any recipes they have to achieve perfection every time. So if your cookies spread, or are too soft or too hard you may want to check this Cookie Course out.

Cookie Tips:

• A helpful tip to ensure your Monte Carlos biscuits are all the same size is to weigh each (1/2) portion to 15g. For sandwich cookies, balls ranging from 10-15g are typically used, depending on your preferred size. 
• Don’t put too much filling inside. Getting the right amount inside stops the filling from oozing out and causes a little bit of suction, helping the cookie stay together.

In this picture, you can see the amount of filling I used for my Monte Carlos. I used a teaspoon to add the jam, but for the buttercream, I opted for a piping bag. Don’t shy away from using a piping bag, as the more you use one, the more confident you’ll become, even if it’s just for filling cookies.

Bec’s Monte Carlo Biscuits

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These cookies are the closest I've been able to get to the shop bought Monte Carlos. Try them and tell me what you think.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Difficulty Medium

Course Biscuits

Cuisine Australian

Servings 22

Method Thermomix and Conventional

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

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For the biscuits:

• 240 g plain flour
• 40 g desiccated coconut
• 120 g caster sugar
• 125 g butter
• 5 g vanilla
• 40 g golden syrup
• 1 egg

Ingredients Filling:

• Raspberry jam or other jam
• 30 g butter
• 60 g icing sugar
• 5 g 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

 

For the biscuits: Thermomix Method:

• Preheat oven to 170°c fan Line two trays with baking paper.
• Weigh the flour, sugar and coconut into the TM bowl, mix 3 seconds/speed 5
• Weigh the butter and vanilla into TM bowl mix for 10 seconds/ speed 5
• Add the egg through hole in lid and continue to mix for 10 seconds/speed 5. scrape down and repeat 10 seconds/speed 5
• Roll 15g balls (I made mine oval) of the mixture into balls and place on baking paper lined trays.
• Press down a little then using a fork lightly press the tynes over the top (optional).
• Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden-brown.
• Remove from oven and leave on the trays for 5 minutes.
• Place onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the butter Cream: Thermomix Method

• Add the butter, icing sugar and vanilla to the TM bowl and mix on speed 3.5 with the MC in place for 20 seconds scrape down and repeat to soften.
• Using a tsp place some jam onto the middle of half of the cookies.
• Then using another tsp place some butter cream to the other halves. I used a piping bag, use what you feel more comfortable with.
• Gently press one of each side together to join.
• Store in an airtight container.

For the biscuits: Conventional Method

• Preheat oven to 170°c fan
• Line two trays with baking paper.
• Mix the flour, baking powder and coconut together in a bowl and set aside.
• Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.
• Add the flour mix and mix well to combine
• Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on baking paper lined trays.
• Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden-brown.
• Remove from oven and leave on the trays for 5 minutes.
• Place onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the butter cream: Conventional Method

• Beat the butter till creamy then add the icing sugar and beat
• Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine.
• Using a tsp place some jam onto the middle of half of the cookies.
• Then using another tsp place some butter cream to the other halves.
• Gently press one of each side together to join.
• Store in an airtight container.

Notes

Take these cookies out of the oven when they turn golden brown.  The longer you bake them, the crunchier they’ll be.  

When you place them on the baking sheet, you’ll want to press them down to shape them slightly.  They don’t spread a lot or move too much, so you can put them fairly close together.   5cm is plenty of space. 

Want to know more?

Would you like to learn how to make awesome cookies with your food processor or thermo appliance? Our Perfect Cookies 1 (or 2) Course will make you an expert. Its online, quick, fun and easy.