So it turns out custard powder is actually vegan. Better yet, I found a custard powder that is completely natural (no nasty artificial colours or flavourings) in my local health food shop.
Once I discovered this, I knew I had to make some custard creams! They’re a classic British biscuit and a particular favourite of mine.
I used the same biscuit base recipe as I did for the Vegan Jammy Dodgers I made a couple of weeks back and even experimented with a gluten-free option which I’m pleased to say tasted really good!
Simply swap the plain flour for gluten-free all purpose flour and making sure the custard powder you’re using doesn’t contain any hidden gluten ingredients.
I couldn’t find a rectangular cookie cutter so I improvised and use a lid of a Colman’s mustard tin!
Worked perfectly… although ideally I would have loved to use this custard cream cookie stamp – how cute is it??
But since it’s Valentines day soon I used some small heart shaped cookie cutters to emboss some heart patterns on the top instead :-)
Vegan Custard Creams
A classic British biscuit made vegan-friendly with a gluten-free option too!
Ingredients
- 150 g / 2/3 cup vegan butter, I used Vitalite dairy-free spread
- 2 tbsp custard powder
- 75 g / 1/3 cup caster sugar
- 180 g / 1½ cups plain flour, can substitute equal amounts of gluten-free all purpose flour
Custard cream filling
- 75 g / 1/3 cup vegan butter, I used Vitalite dairy-free spread
- 125 g / 1 cup icing sugar
- 2 tbsp custard powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 370F and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together the vegan butter, custard powder and sugar until smooth.
- Add the flour in a small amount at a time and continue to mix the dough until completely smooth and it balls together. If it's still crumbly, keep mixing or add a little more butter.
- Knead the dough until smooth and roll to about 1/2 cm thickness. Use a rectangular cookie cutter to cut out the cookie shapes and transfer them to the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes until lightly golden brown. Leave to cool whilst you prepare the custard filling.
- Whisk the vegan butter and gradually add in the icing sugar and custard powder. Don't thin it out as it needs to be thick.
- Once the biscuits are cooled, pipe (or spoon) the custard buttercream filling on half the biscuits and sandwich with the rest of the cookies.
- Keeps for 3 days in the fridge or 1 day at room temperature. Enjoy!
Hi,
Would you be able to swap the custard powder for cocoa powder to make chocolate Bourbon biscuits?
Very excited to try making these
Possibly! I do have a recipe for Bourbon Biscuits that I haven’t posted yet. Please keep an eye out for it soon.
Has the bourbon biscuit recipe gone up yet, desperate to make them haha, the custard creams were incredible
Yes! Click here for the recipe :)
They look so yummy omg
I’ve just made these! I followed the recipe to the letter (which I can because you always give the English quantities along with the US ones, thankyou) and they are perfect I wouldn’t change a thing.
So happy to hear you enjoyed them, Angela! Thanks for the lovely comment :-)
Hi, I have a mega charity bake for Christmas around work hours. Is it possible to make the biscuit dough in advance and freeze it? Many thanks
Hi Niki. Honestly, I’ve never tried it but see no reason why it would work any differently to regular biscuit dough. Just make sure it’s wrapped really well to prevent freezer burn and give it plenty of time to de-frost. Best of luck with your charity bake :-)
I’m going to have to try these (and the midget gems!) as my children like custard creams. I’ve never been a huge fan – but I love Bourbons. Any change you’re going to try and invent a vegan recipe for those? (Especially as there’s a nationwide shortage at the moment due to the factory flooding)
Yes, next on my list Carolyn! Stay tuned… Let me know if you give them a try :-)
I eagerly await the recipe! :-)
They are soooo good! I bought a custard cream stamp online to complete the look. The only thing I’ll say is I had to add A LOT of flour to get them more dough like and I don’t think they need THAT much icing sugar, but NOOOOM!
I wonder if there is a way to make these lower in sugar? they are absolutely beautiful and would love to give it a go!
Hi Julie :-) My favourite sugar substitute is xylitol which you could try using in equal amounts to the sugar in this recipe to make it low-sugar. Perhaps you could consider using a low carb biscuit base with ground almonds too? Let me know how you get on if you try it out!
What a great recipe! I’m really keen to give these a try when I have an oven again! I also love the biscuit cutter, I made vegan Tim Tams a few months ago, and getting them the same size was the biggest challenge.
Yes I had to be quite resourceful! Glad you like my recipe, let me know if and when you give them a try yourself :-) PS. I can’t imagine being without an oven!!!
Ah these are so cute, I bet they taste amazing! Especially compared to shop bought custard creams. I definitely need to try them :)
India / Touchscreens & Beautyqueens
Thanks India, homemade is always better :-)
That’s adorable that you made these lid-shaped! And I never knew about custard powder, period, so I’ll have to check that out. Yay for such cute vegan snackies!
Lid-shaped cookies are going to be all the rage now!
So happy to know that custard powder is vegan!!! This recipe is so amazing, I am well impressed. Also love that you used the lid of Colman’s mustard as a cookie cutter :)
Thank you Mariana :-) I was delighted to discover it was vegan, I’m so tempted to put it in all my baking now…
Natural custard powder sounds like a revelation and these look gorgeous, I will have a look in my health shop but I am guessing it won’t help with egg custard tarts as I am obsessed! xx
I love your idea to use the lid of a Colman’s mustard tin as a cutter. I’ll be trying that in future. I also love your heart decoration on these biscuits – they are perfect =)
Thanks Laura :-) Mustard tin lids, who knew right??
Ahh what a beaut, i don’t think you could even know these were vegan. Love the little hearts on them, why does all your food make me feel like I want to hug things?!
Haha! I want to hug YOU for saying that :-)
So beautiful! I absolutely love custard creams – my favourite biscuit! Definitely inspired me to make my own soon, Aimee! Your photos are stunning :D
Thank you Jess! Now I need to try them in your custard cream fudge… Mmm!
i am so intrigued by these cookies because, as far as i know, we don’t have a comparable cookie in the us, apart from a cookie sandwich. custard filling sounds delicious, though, and they are just the prettiest!
Thanks Caitlin :-) You guys are missing out if you don’t have any custard sandwich cookies!!