Old Favourites - Monte Carlos

One of my favourite biscuits growing up was the Monte Carlo - turns out, it wasn't just my favourite!  Have you ever noticed that when you are in the workplace tea room, in a meeting, at a wake, or in a conference, and the morning or afternoon tea comes out with the good ol' classic Arnott's Assorted Creams served up, that it's always the Monte Carlo that disappears first?  Now to be fair, I've never quite worked out if that's because everyone chooses them first, or I'm just greedy and take all of them - hiding the spares in my pockets and bag for later, OR, and this is the big one folks, Arnott's puts less of them in each pack to start with? 

So, in Melbourne-Australia, we are still  in stage 4 lockdown due to COVID-19 ( I think officially it's been 80 days but who's counting!) but as we started stage 3 way back in March, we are all starting to forget what the world is like out there - as a  result, we are all still cooking madly, starting vegetable patches, finding new hobbies - one unfortunately being macrame -
(if you grew up in and lived through the 70's you'll know why this thought truly is a horrific one!).  

Anyway back to the Monte Carlo -  I've not actually made these before, but thought I'd give it a go for a change.
Something different for Phil - the man in the home. 
Turns out, home made Monte Carlos are REALLY GOOD!

So if you are looking for a new biscuit to add to your repertoire, give this one a go, it really is worth it - Phil thinks so - but then again
Phil thinks all biscuits are REALLY GOOD !

If you do make them, I'd love to hear how you go - or see some photos posted to my FB  page of your efforts.

Quick Tip: Keep an eye on the bums of the biscuits when baking - due to the coconut and butter, they can burn easily on the bottom - that did happen to me for a couple of the biscuits on the first tray.

Click Here to download your recipe.

If the link does not work to download the recipe, email me at photo@dlbenson.com.au and I will pop the pdf recipe back to you.

monte carlos

Method: Biscuits

1/ Cream together butter, soft brown sugar, butter & vanilla essence - either by hand or electric mixer. Transfer to large bowl.

2/ Stir in sifted flours and desiccated coconut in TWO batches.

3/ Roll into small even rounds, and place on baking tray with paper about 2.5cm (1inch) apart.

4/ Flatten biscuits slightly with back of fork. 

5/ Bake biscuits on middle or top shelf in oven for about 12 minutes - check to make sure they do not burn on the bottom.  (Timing will vary slightly depending on your oven).

6/ Once cooked - remove from oven and cool on wire racks.  Repeat till all the mixture has been used up.

METHOD: CREAM FILLING

1/ Mix/beat, butter, vanilla, and sifted icing sugar either by hand or electric mixer until smooth.  Set in fridge to harden slightly.

METHOD: Assembling

1/ Once biscuits are cool, and the filling has hardened, spread a thin layer on the inside of one biscuit.  On the other, spread thinly with jam.  Join halves together gently.

N.B.  The unfilled biscuits will keep well for up to 1-2 weeks depending on how you store them.  So maybe best to only fill what you think you need for each day for the best results.  However if you do fill them all, they will last for up to 2-3 days in a cool place or fridge in an airtight container.