advice please

[crumbling moments]

Hi I have tried making a batch of melting moment biscuits and they didn't work.
These are the ingredients
185g butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup rice flour
3 tbsp icing sugar
baked at 180C for 10 minutes.
For a start the mixture seemed quite sloppy, had to roll it in flour just to shape them, when they cooked they really spread and when you pick them up they fall apart.
I got the recipe out of a magazine and have never tried making them before, does anyone know where I am going wrong or have a better recipe.
Thanks in advance.

[Spot!]

I don't know about the proportions of the ingredients used, but sometimes with biscuits they need to be refrigerated for an hour before they are shaped for baking so maybe that was a problem in the process.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

[Try This One]

Here's a recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly magazine.  Note - though it says have butter at room temperature, I'd ignore that for a Singaporean kitchen. Putting the mixture in the fridge before shaping would also help them not to spread too much. Your recipe sounds like it has a large amount of butter to flour, so that could it.
Also the Aussie cup measurements are different, so use the grams given.


INGREDIENTS

250g butter
½ cup (80g) icing sugar mixture
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups (225g) plain flour
½ cup (75g) cornflour

Butter cream
80g butter
2/3 cup (110g) icing sugar mixture
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon lemon juice

NOTE: This recipe makes about 25 biscuits. Unfilled biscuits can be made two weeks ahead and stored in an airtight glass jar. Filled biscuits can be made two days ahead.

METHOD

Preheat the oven to moderately slow (160°C). Line three baking trays with baking paper.

Beat the butter, sifted icing sugar mixture and vanilla with an electric mixer until pale. Stir in the combined sifted flours in two batches.

With lightly floured hands, roll two level teaspoons of mixture into balls and place on oven tray about 3cm apart. Dip a fork into a little extra flour and press down lightly onto each biscuit to flatten slightly.

Bake in moderately slow oven for about 15 minutes or until biscuits are a pale straw colour. Stand the biscuits on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool.

For the butter cream, beat the butter, sifted icing sugar mixture and rind in a small bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in the juice.

To serve, sandwich two biscuits with a teaspoon of the butter cream. Dust with a little extra sifted icing sugar, if desired.

Unfilled biscuits suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.

Cook's note
Have butter for the biscuits and butter cream at room temperature.

[Another recipe]

The recipe I use is one my mom used when we were kids:

150g softened butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup custard powder
1/2 cup icing sugar

Cream the butter and sugar and add the rest.  Bake @ 180oC for 12-15mins.  I usually just put teaspoonful's on a tray and flatten with a fork or potato masher (the one with squares for pattern effect) They can be a little crumbly though......

Vanilla cream to sandwich them:
45g softened butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
2Tbsp milk

[crumbling moments]

Thanks I will give those a try next week, I thought all my baking problems were solved by my oven thermometre!