These Homemade Tim Tams are an Australian specialty consisting of two chocolate cookies, sandwiched around chocolate-malt frosting, dipped in chocolate. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?
Today is a verrrrrry exciting day, because I get to share a recipe from my new favorite dessert cookbook, The Sugar Hit! If you’re not already familiar with The Sugar Hit blog, head over there immediately—I’ll wait. *files nails* *eats a cookie*
Now that your eyeballs have exploded from all of the delicious desserts Sarah posts on the regular, you can understand why I was so anxious to get my hands on her cookbook, which just came out a few weeks ago. It’s just like Sarah’s blog—fun, colorful, cheeky, loaded with personality, full of whimsical desserts with big ideas and even bigger flavors.
So when Sarah offered me the opportunity to share a recipe from her book on SugarHero, she hadn’t even finished her sentence before I type-shouted, “YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES.” (Emailed conversations make it so much harder to enthusiastically interrupt people these days, am I right?) It was hard to decide what to make, and for a while I was leaning toward the dulce de leche crepes (om nom nom nom) but in the end, these ultra-chocolatey Homemade Tim Tams won out.
Sarah’s Australian, so she has access to all sorts of fun junk food this poor American doesn’t have. Tim Tams are an Australian national treasure specialty, consisting of two chocolate cookies, sandwiched around chocolate-malt frosting, dipped in chocolate. If you’re thinking it sounds like chocolate overload—and thus, totally up my alley—you are absolutely right.
I’ve never had a Tim Tam, and despite making a special trip to Cost Plus World Market last week, I haven’t been able to track one down yet. So I can’t do a direct comparison. But these cookies are so gosh-darn-dagnabit-rootin-tootin good (pardon my language), I can’t believe there’s any mass marketed treat that can even come close. No way do commercial Tim Tams have the deep chocolate flavor, rich frosting filling, and crispy-creamy textural interplay that these homemade cookie sandwiches do. It’s just not possible. So even without tasting the original, I have no qualms about calling these The Best Tim Tams Ever.
The problem with these cookies, if there is one, is that they’re kind of petite. Just a few inches long. Small enough so that you think you’re not really having a whole dessert serving if you have one. And, you know how if you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll always ask for a glass of milk? Well, if you give this girl a Tim Tam, she’ll always ask for a second…and then a third. Because I’m powerless in the face of triple chocolate sandwich cookies, and I’m blaming it all on The Sugar Hit.
So, the recipe is down below if you want to tempt your own sweet teeth, and please go check out Sarah’s blog and her book if you want more great desserts. She is all about being fearless and having fun in the kitchen, and her blog’s bold colors and punchy graphic style really convey this. (I busted out my loudest, most colorfully patterned cups and plates as a little shout-out to her style.)
Speaking of punchy style, SugarHero is about to get a MAJOR facelift! Like, within a week! Hang on to your measuring cups, ladies and gents, because this will be a huge change. It should be a pretty seamless transition to the new design, but please bear with me if there are any hiccups or downtime along the way. This has been a LONG time coming and I am so excited for you all to see the new and greatly improved site. Sooooooon!
Where Can I Find Tim Tams?
In the United States, I have found Tim Tams at my local Target stores and at Cost Plus World Market.
What Is A Tim Tam Slam?
A Tim Tam slam is when you bite off two corners of the cookie, place it in a drink, and slurp the drink through the cookie!
💙More Delicious Dessert Recipes
- Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate-Dipped Pound Cake
- Chocolate-Covered Raspberries
- Fudge-Striped Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate-Dipped Frozen Bananas
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Chocolate-Dipped Pretzel Cupcakes
Homemade Tim Tams
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 4 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature (115 g)
- 4 oz granulated sugar, (1/2 cup or 115 g)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 oz unsweetened cocoa powder, (1/3 cup or 30 g)
- 5.5 oz all-purpose flour, (1 cup or 150 g)
- Pinch of salt
For the Filling:
- 4 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature (115 g)
- 4 oz powdered sugar, (1 cup or 115 g)
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp chocolate malted milk powder, like Ovaltine or Horlicks
For the Coating:
- 10 oz milk chocolate, or dark chocolate (280 g)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
To Make the Cookies:
- Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and cream until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl, and add the egg and continue beating until the egg is incorporate and the mixture lightens in color. Add the cocoa powder and beat until there are no lumps. Finally, fold through the flour and salt until it is all incorporated. The dough will be very soft.
- Scrape the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. Add a second sheet of paper on top, and roll out the dough between the two sheets until it is a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick. Place the dough on a tray and freeze it for 30 minutes, or refrigerate it for 1-2 hours, until firm.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Cut the chilled dough into 28 small 1 1/4 in x 2 1/2 in rectangles. Place them in evenly spaced intervals on the baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely at room temperature.
To Make the Filling:
- Cream the butter until soft, then sift in the remaining ingredients and beat until light and fluffy. Spread a heaping teaspoon of filling on half of the cookies, or transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe an even layer of filling on half of the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies, then put in the refrigerator to chill while you make the coating.
To Assemble:
- For the coating, place the chocolate and coconut oil in a heat-proof bowl and melt them together in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Once the chocolate is mostly melted, remove and stir gently until smooth.
- Using a fork or dipping tools, dip a chilled cookie in the melted chocolate and place it back on the baking sheet. If you want to create a wavy pattern on top of the cookies, lightly press the tines of the fork or dipping tool to the top while the chocolate is still wet. Repeat until all of the cookies are dipped. Chill in the refrigerator, then devour!
Recipe Notes
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
I haven’t looked at Target, but I have been finding them at Safeway! They’ve had the original chocolate one and also the caramel.
This is absolutely glorious! I omitted some of the sugar in both the filling and the biscuits themselves, and used dark chocolate for the coating. I adore one of these with a cup of tea for dessert.
Hey Nici, I am so glad to hear you enjoyed it so much! The adjustments you made sound perfect, I am so glad you were able to play around with it and find a way that it works best! That is awesome, thank you so much for your feedback!
I love timtams and am excited to try my own. I’m wondering how long homemade one keep and if I should keep them in the fridge or freezer?
To be fair, these are much better than store brought Tim tams, they use fake chocolate and they taste like garbage not what they used to be! I only eat these homade ones, I’m put off store brought fake “Australian” cheap Tim tams. BTW, I’m Australian, live in Australia, grew up eating these things all the time but prefer quality
We are a huge fan of Tim Tams, so finding a diy option is fantastic! These turned out great but I ended up with a lot of extra icing! I think I only used half, and that was even with putting about a tablespoon on each cookie! You may also want to update the time at the top of the card because you need a few hours for the chill and set times in between. At first glance it makes it seem like it only takes 15 minutes to do these cookies. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the feedback, Aviva! I’ve added a “chilling time” section to the recipe card to clarify that. I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies!
For the filling, does it matter if the malt powder is chocolate-flavored or original? I have the nestle carnation malted milk powder and was going to use that. I didn’t know if chocolate ovaltine powder would be better.
Hi Abbey, if you have the Carnation, I would just go ahead and use that. I did use Ovaltine chocolate when I made them, but since it requires such a small amount, I would just use what you have–the cocoa powder will still give it a nice chocolate flavor. 🙂
It may not matter. I was wondering if this recipe uses Australian measuring cups and spoons.
Hi Diane! I used US measuring cups which I believe are slightly different than Australian measuring cups. There is a metric conversion button within the recipe card if you have a scale! I hope this helps 🙂
This may be the most delicious cookie dough of all time. I never thought I would say this but it is too much chocolate. I could not taste the filling – and it was delicious. I know the original cookie is all chocolate and I like it! But this needed a break. Maybe raspberry or vanilla buttercream. Could it be because I did not use premium chocolate for the coating?
Hi Louise! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed these, it is definitely for chocolate lovers! The variations you mentioned sound delicious! I think mint and orange would also be spectacular!