Custard Cookies (Melt-in-Your-Mouth Butter Cookies)
This post may contain affiliate links.These custard cookies are buttery, crumbly, and literally melt in your mouth. Made with custard powder and simple pantry ingredients, they’re easy to prepare and perfect for holiday cookie trays, afternoon tea, or homemade gifts.
A Quick Look at the Recipe
🏷️ Recipe Name: Custard Cookies
⏱️ Ready In: ~ 22 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 100 pieces
🔥 Calories: 13 kcal per serving (estimate)
🧾 Main Ingredients: Butter, powdered sugar, cornstarch, custard powder, flour, choco chips.
🥗 Dietary Info: Vegetarian friendly
🧠 Difficulty: Medium with very simple steps.
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These Custard Cookies are soft, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth with every bite. Their texture is light and crumbly, much like cat tongue cookies, cheese cookies, coffee bean cookies, or festive favorites like pineapple tarts (nastar)—classic favorites you’ll often find among traditional Asian cookies recipes served during holidays and special gatherings. A touch of custard powder gives them that creamy flavor and tender feel that makes them stand out from other butter cookies.
If you love soft cookies like my matcha chocolate chip cookies, banana soft almond cookies, or ube crinkle cookies, these custard cookies will quickly become your new favorite. They’re simple to make, no eggs, no mixer, and turns out delicious!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Recipe Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Custard powder – This is the key ingredient that gives these cookies their signature flavor and beautiful yellow color. Don’t worry if the dough turns yellow after mixing—that’s completely normal. Most custard powders are flavored with vanilla and contain coloring that helps create the classic appearance of custard cookies.
Cornstarch – Cornstarch helps create the light, crumbly texture that makes these cookies melt in your mouth. It also reduces gluten development, resulting in a more tender cookie.
Choco chips – I use chocolate chips to decorate the cookies and add a touch of sweetness. You can also replace them with chocolate sprinkles, chopped nuts, candied cherries, or simply leave the cookies plain.
Unsalted butter – Butter gives these cookies their rich flavor and delicate texture. For best results, let the butter soften at room temperature before mixing.
Powdered sugar – Powdered sugar dissolves easily into the dough and helps create a smooth, tender texture. It also contributes to the cookies’ melt-in-your-mouth quality.
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
How to Make Custard Cookies
STEP 1. Sieve the powdered sugar, cornstarch, custard powder and flour in a mixing bowl (Image 1). Use a whisk to stir the dry ingredients well. Leave the butter in room temperature. Make sure it is already soft and no longer hard. Add softened butter into the mixing bowl (Image 2). Use your hand to knead and mix the whole ingredients into a dough (Images 3, 4).
STEP 2. Use a flower tip (Image 5), push the dough through it and shape into a flower-shaped cookies (Image 6). Press the center with chocolate chips (Image 7). Bake the cookies in a preheated oven of 356°F / 180°C for 12 minutes. Take out the cookies from the oven. Wait until it has cooled down. Store them in a closed container. Enjoy the cookies anytime!
Pro Tips
- No flower tip? No problem! Just roll the dough into balls and gently flatten them—they’ll taste just as delicious.
- Keep an eye on them while baking—you do not want them too dark. (They go from perfect to overdone fast!)
- Piping pretty flowers takes a few tries. If your first few look messy, simply scoop the dough back into the piping bag and try again. By batch two, you’ll be a piping pro!
Serving Suggestions
These delicate custard cookies are perfect with a cup of Assam Milk Tea or a cold Butterfly Pea Latte, their buttery sweetness balances beautifully with the subtle bitterness of black tea or the creaminess of milk.
For a refreshing twist, pair them with iced Lemongrass Pandan Tea or a Iced Strawbery Milk. Serve them on a pretty plate for afternoon tea, or pack them in a lunchbox.
They also pair wonderfully with other desserts, such as Mango Ice Cream (crumble them on top for texture).
Keep a jar handy—you’ll find endless ways to savor them!
Custard Cookies FAQs
Custard powder is a mixture typically made from cornstarch, flavorings, and coloring. It is commonly used to make custard desserts and gives these cookies their distinctive flavor and golden-yellow color.
Yes. If you don’t have a cookie press or piping tip, you can roll the dough into small balls and flatten them slightly before baking. The cookies will taste just as delicious.
Absolutely. Try adding matcha powder, cocoa powder, taro powder, or pandan extract for different flavor variations.
Custard cookies have a high butter content and contain cornstarch, which helps create a delicate, crumbly texture. This combination gives them their signature melt-in-your-mouth quality.
Storage
Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month. For longer storage, keep them in the refrigerator or use an oxygen absorber to help maintain freshness.
Custard Cookies
Equipment
- 1 piping bag
- 2 baking pan
Ingredients
- 25 gr unsalted butter
- 55 gr powdered sugar
- 55 gr cornstarch
- 58 gr custard powder
- 80 gr flour
- 25 gr choco chips
Instructions
- Sieve the powdered sugar, cornstarch, custard powder and flour in a mixing bowl.
- Use a whisk to stir the dry ingredients well.
- Put the butter in room temperature. Make sure it is already soft and no longer hard.
- Mix into the flour mixture.
- Mix well using spatula until it becomes dough.
- Use a flower tip, push the dough through it and shape into a flower.
- Press the center with chocolate chips.
- Bake for 12 minutes at 180°C.
- Take out the cookies from the oven. Wait until it has cooled down.
- Put in a jar or serve right away. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- If you don’t have a flower tip, you can round the cookies and press it, just like other cookie dough.
- Watch the baking process carefully, do not let it burn too dark.
- Shaping the custard dough into a pretty flowers takes practice. If it is not good enough, you can always take it back and push through the tip again. You will become an expert after a while.
I instantly fall in love with these cookies. They melt in the mouth without leaving any residue in between your teeth. It is so easy to make it and it is not too sweet!
This is probably the easiest cookies I have ever made! No eggs, no mixer needed. And they are ready within minutes! Plus they are so delicious and addictive!