Custard creams are a great simple bake and one I put on here at the request of my daughters. They are quick to cook making them an ideal recipe when baking with young children.
Custard creams have been a favourite biscuit baking recipe of mine for many years. I can rarely resist this simple, straightforward biscuit. This recipe is my Mum’s, she made these for bake sales and coffee mornings. My sisters and I still love them and I particularly remember eating them around our Birthdays and at Christmas. There isn’t much to them, they are a quick bake with few ingredients. However, I do love eating these crumbly biscuits, far more so than the shop bought equivalent.
Ever since they were small, my daughters have loved to cook and bake with me. Recently they decided they wanted to bake custard creams. Who doesn’t love a custard cream, a sandwich biscuit with a distinctive yellow hue?
Without a doubt, this is baking at it’s most simple, making them ideal for baking with children as they can do most of the steps themselves. The only thing I used to help with was popping them into the hot oven. I think it’s important that kids learn to be independent in the kitchen.
We looked out my recipe, however found it was merely a list of ingredients with no instruction whatsoever. Perfectly fine for me, who has made them for years and doesn’t need a recipe. Not so much use for my girls. My daughters are more than capable of following a simple recipe, even so this was far from a recipe!
Despite the lack of a recipe, the girls carried on, using my verbal instructions! Once the biscuits were in the oven, my eldest asked “Can you please put this recipe on your blog, then next time I know where to find it?”
At that moment it hit me, they are a different generation, hence my daughters use the blog as their reference. No handwritten scribbled notes for them, with such a vast variety of recipes available online. This got me pondering a lovely thought, aside from sharing recipes that everyone can enjoy, this blog is a recipe book for my own children.
Recipe steps:
Custard creams always remind me of baking with my own Mum. I was never keen on blending the butter and sugar together, we didn’t have a fancy mixer, instead it was a bowl and a wooden spoon. I baked as a kid and it’s a love that’s stayed with me and I’m glad to say that it’s a love that I have passed on to both my daughters. Which comes in handy as when I fancy a sweet treat I always have willing volunteers!
This is my Mum’s recipe for custard creams, so I’m not taking any credit. These are exactly how she made them and how I like to eat them.
Do custard creams contain eggs?
Whilst most custards contain egg,custard powder does not. I always use Birds custard powder as my daughter has an egg allergy and I know it does not contain egg. Instead it uses cornstarch as it’s base ingredient for thickening.
Can I make custard creams ahead of time?
Yes, these simple custard biscuits will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days, although they will start to soften a little. I have baked them for many bake sales over the years and make them the day before.
Can you freeze custard creams?
I cannot see any reason why you cannot freeze these biscuits. What I would perhaps suggest is cooking the biscuit, cooling them then freezing them in a suitable box or container so they don’t get knocked around in the freezer. I would then defrost when ready to eat and make the butter icing at that point to sandwich them together.
However, in all honestly I’ve never got this far, as custard creams rarely last long enough in my house!
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Additional recipe suggestions:
If you like this recipe then why not try some of our other recipes:
- Simple Orange Biscuits
- No-bake Chocolate Tiffin
- No-bake Mars Bar Slice
- Easy Bake Melting Moments
- Chocolate & Pecan Brownies
- Chocolate & Hazelnut Cookies
These are all great simple recipes for a days baking with kids. If you have enjoyed this bake have a look at our Ultimate Guide to Baking with Kids, full of great recipe suggestions, hint and tip for baking with your children.
Custard Creams
Ingredients
- 12 oz butter (softened)
- 4 oz icing sugar
- 4 oz Birds custard powder
- 12 oz self raising flour
Basic Butter Icing
- 5 oz butter (softened)
- 10 oz icing sugar
Instructions
- Cream together the icing sugar and butter until soft and well combined.
- Stir through the custard powder and the flour. This should form a stiff ball of well combined dough, take care not to overwork the dough, only bring it together.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a teaspoon of the dough and roll it into a ball and place it on a baking sheet. Use a fork to gently press down the top of each ball of dough – don't press too hard. Leave sufficient space between each ball to allow the biscuits to spread in the oven.
- When done place the custard creams into an oven at 180C/160CFan for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the biscuits on a wire rack to cool.
- Meanwhile mix together the icing sugar and butter to make the butter icing.
- Once the biscuits have cooled spread some butter icing between two biscuits and allow to the icing to set. Store the sandwiched biscuits in an air-tight container.
• Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only •
Sarah-Jane
Saturday 28th of September 2019
Our 9 year old daughter wanted to bake by herself so apart from helping with oven she followed this recepie to the letter and they turned out fantastic so when her dad mentioned baking for Macmillan coffee morning at his office she jumped at the chance to bake them again. She got lovely feedback from dad's work, so again thank you for this recepie which has now become part of our family memories as our daughter's first solo bake.
Lesley
Saturday 28th of September 2019
Thank you very much Sarah-Jane that’s lovely to hear and I’m delighted they were such a success. I love to see kids baking and becoming confident in the kitchen. It’s a family favourite bake of mine. Made them since childhood and now my kids bake them. Lesley x
Jacqui Bellefontaine
Thursday 8th of February 2018
yes please I will try these. They look fab. I finally started my blog because my boys were both living away from home and starting to ask for recipes. You are right it is the future.
Lesley
Thursday 15th of February 2018
Thank you Jacqui, to be honest my blogging buddy Michelle and I started this blog with the purpose of writing down all those recipes that we had swimming around in our heads, or written on half scribbled notes of papers. It's a lovely way to share recipes. Lesley x