If you’re an Aussie, then you’ll know these biscuits well. If not, you need to get to know them because not only are these Homemade Kingston Biscuits easy to make but they’re also classic Aussie biscuits for a good reason.
If you love these flavours, you really should try my anzac biscuits too and this chocolate flapjacks slice.
Don’t you love being able to make favourites from scratch? Just like these Oreo Cookies or my Custard Powder, making classics from scratch just makes you feel good and, often, it’s way easier than you think to make your own too.
You know what else makes you feel good? Simple oatmeal cookies, filled with chocolate.
And that’s what these homemade Kingston biscuits are. A super simple mixture of ingredients that come together with a spatula and a bowl. You don’t even need a mixer to handle this dough. The dough doesn’t need refrigeration meaning these biscuits can go from non-existence to baked in half an hour.
They taste just like a shop-bought Kingston which, for those who don’t know, is amazing!
What are Kingstons?
Kingston Cream Biscuits are a famous Aussie icon cookie (known as a biscuit in Australia) made by Arnott’s. Two small, golden oatmeal cookies are sandwiched together with a chocolate cream centre.
Recreating a classic in your own kitchen starts with a look over the ingredients panel of the original. Keep the stuff you know, dump the things you can’t pronounce then get into the kitchen and start testing. That’s exactly what I did when I re-created these Buttery Sultana Cookies and now these Kingstons too.
Looking at the ingredients panel on a pack of Kingstons, they’re much like Anzac biscuits. Well I already have a delicious Anzac biccie recipe so, I played with that slightly and used plain melted chocolate for the centre and, by George, we have Kingstons.
I chose to use just a plain melted milk chocolate for the chocolate cream and used eating chocolate, since melting this kind of chocolate normally results in it not setting completely hard again. That’s perfect for the centre of these cuties.
Are Kingstons Crispy Cookies?
Yes, the biscuits are meant to be crunchy, crispy all the way through. Keep an eye on them in the oven as you want to find that perfect point where they are golden enough but also going to cool down to completely crunchy cookies.
But don’t worry if they cool and aren’t crunchy – they will still be totally delicious.
How To Make Homemade Kingston Biscuits
- Start by mixing some dry ingredients together in a bowl – flour, sugar, coconut, quick oats and salt.
- Now melt together butter and golden syrup (see below for more about golden syrup).
- Mix some boiling water and baking soda then add it to the butter mixture. I love watching this, as it reacts and start foaming immediately.
- Now pour those wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix it up.
- I use the smallest cookie scoop I have which is a size 100 (or basically 2 teaspoons) and scoop little balls of dough.
- Sit them 2 inches apart on a baking tray (since they will spread) and bake for 12-14 minutes. Every oven is different so test one first to see how it turns out. It needs to be golden and once cooled it should be crisp all the way through. The dough will happily wait for your test one to do it’s thing.
- Now just melt some milk chocolate, let it cool to the point that it holds shape a little and then use about ½ – 1 teaspoon to sandwich the cookies together.
What Is Golden Syrup?
Golden syrup is very much like a paler version of treacle. It’s a golden, inverted sugar syrup and used in many UK and Aussie recipes.
While golden syrup has it’s own distinct flavour, you could certainly swap it for maple syrup or honey in this recipe (or even treacle). If you can, try to get the real thing because it’s also great over pancakes or scones. Try looking for Lyles Golden Syrup online.
How Long Do Homemade Kington Biscuits Keep?
These cookies are great as gifts since they keep well for 5-6 days. I mean, I’d probably eat them after that too, if there were any left but lets just stick to 5-6 to be all food-safety conscious.
You can freeze these too. Simply into an airtight container and freeze for 2-3 months. Thaw them at room temperature for 30 minutes.
With the gift-giving season upon us, I’ll bet you know a few people who would love a batch of crunchy, buttery biscuits filled with chocolate? Dunked or not, there’s nothing better with a cuppa than a Kingston biscuit.
More Filled Cookies
- Garibaldi Biscuits
- Jam Filled Speculaas Cookies
- Homemade Custard Creams
- Traditional Lemon Melting Moments
- Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain (all-purp) flour (130g)
- 150 g white granulated sugar (¾ cup)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups quick oats
- ⅔ cup fine desiccated coconut
- ¼ cup golden syrup (notes)
- 115 g unsalted butter (½cup / 1 stick)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate)
- 1 ½ tablespoons boiling water
- 200 g milk chocolate (1 cup)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, oats, coconut and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Combine the golden syrup and butter in a small saucepan and melt together over low heat.
- Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the butter mixture. It should start to get frothy straight away.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients
- Use a mini cookie scoop (I used size 100) to scoop balls (or about 2 teaspoons) of cookie dough onto baking trays at least 2 inches apart. Don’t overcrowd the trays as they spread. Press down on the top of each one to flatten it just slightly.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, turning the tray at the halfway point (notes)
- Once cooled, melt the chocolate in 20 second bursts in the microwave, stirring well between each until JUST melted.
- Let the chocolate cool to a consistency where it doesn't immediately flatten out when drizzled, then add ½ -1 teaspoon to a cookie and sandwich it together with another. Let them set at room temperature.
Notes
- If you can’t find golden syrup, you can substitute maple syrup, honey or treacle (they will be darker with treacle).
- I use quick oats but you can use full rolled oats.
- For best results, you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- All ovens vary – always test for doneness 3-5 minutes before the recipe suggests.
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60 Comments on “Homemade Kingston Biscuits”
Very very yummy, they look exactly like in the picture.Definitely making them again. Next time I make them will reduce the sugar a little bit.
I’m so happy you love them, Hlukani. Be careful reducing too much sugar as it can affect the structure of baked goods too.
Made theses flatten then bit to much but still great
So happy you love them, Debra.
My family love these biscuits, easy to make because of the excellent instructions. Highly recommend you try them
I’m so happy you all love them, Deb 🙂
By the way – I add 30 grams of butter to the chocolate to make a ganache. Works perfect.
Very close to the real thing! Kingston Biscuits have always been our favourite, and we always buy loads, when we visit from Denmark. Converting from Australian cups (not to confuse with American cups i realized) to metric grams took a while. I wish you would write both for all ingredients. For my taste – maybe it´s because of the size – I only bake them for 9-10 minutes. But very deliscious – the whole family loves them, and we don´t have to wait for years nutildags we come back Down Under to get them. Thank you!
This is so great to hear, Mie. I’m so happy you love them.
Hi Marie,
I grew up in Australia but have been away for over 2 decades and absolutely miss Kingston bickies, so can’t wait to try this recipe. I was just wondering if the biscuits will go soft after I add the chocolate filling. I’ve made biscuits with fillings before and sometimes they go soft after the filling is added. Will fill them right before eating if they’ll go soft. I live in a humid tropical climate so that might make things worse. Thanks!
Hi Caroline.Yes, they will soften over time. To keep them as crisp as possible, especially in a humid climate, place a little bowl of bicarb soda into the container they’re stored in and fill them right before you want to eat them. The bicarb will absorb any moisture in the air around the bikkies to help keep them crisper.
even better than anzacs for sweettooth keith
So happy you love them, Keith.
Mine came out flat as well like Anzac so I left them like that put melted chocolate in bag then lined them up and criss cross the chocky over them they were so nice i nick named them frankstons…as in my name ha ha people were raving
So happy you loved them, Tony. I might need to shoot a video and troubleshoot why some bakers have had flat cookies.
I don’t want to give the recipe a bad rating bc everyone else said it was lovely so it must’ve been my error. I tried making these, the only deviation I made from the recipe was using dark corn syrup instead of golden syrup but my cookies came out flat and melted all over the pan. I’ve triple checked the instructions but can’t find where I went wrong. I weighed the flour and sugar? I used regular rolled oats as well but the notes say that’s alright. Can’t figure out what went wrong and I’m really disappointed, these were supposed to be a present for my grandparents
Hi Rose. I’m sorry you had trouble with it. I can only think of a couple of reasons this may happen. 1. Maybe your oven wasn’t quite hot enough so they spread before they had the time to set. 2. Maybe your butter has a higher water content that what I use. If neither of those sound right, maybe just give your oats a blitz in the food processor first to break them down a touch. I have used them whole fine but they will add a little more structure throughout in their finer form.
Great recipe that i can make vegan which is great. Can’t wait to make
So great to hear, Katherine.
It looks good and I’m making it with Nutella in the middle of the 2 Anzacs cookies.
Sounds delicious, Sofie
Can I substitute anything for coconut.
We are a household who does not like coconut.
Hi Diane, you could try replacing it with more oats.
Yum, very easy recipe, comes together quickly. I pipe the chocolate ganache I found it easier. A big hit .
So happy you love them Karen.
they are amazing I make them all the time for my family.
So happy you love them, Tan
Top notch recipe!
Ive played around slightly with this each time I’ve baked however this recipe is close to perfect regardless & the biscuits taste fantastico-even better than the real thing I think.
Thanks for sharing,it’s made my life in the UK complete…no more overpriced importing 😘
Thanks so much Pete. This makes my day. I’m so glad I’ve been able to save you some money on importing them too 🙂
Just stumbled upon these and they look scrumptious, I’ll be trying the recipe soon.
I was actually searching for a Butternut Snap homemade recipe, then realised the butternut snap tastes similar to a Kingston biscuit minus the chocolate filling. Would you agree or not?
Hi Alis, they’re similar but not the same. You could also try these Easy Anzac Biscuits which are the same base.
i haven’t lived in NZ/Aus for about 4-5 years and really miss the biscuits from that part of the world. I’ve made these twice now and they’ve really satisfied those homesick food cravings when they’ve come up. I dip the biscuits in the milk chocolate so they’re mot like afghans and it still works a treat and tastes just like the original Arnott’s recipe. Thank you so much! This recipe is fire.
Sounds wonderful. I’m so happy you love them 🙂
I made these for my family and they loved them. My adult son said they were as good as the shop bought one. My granddaughter helped me make them, her favourite part was licking the melted chocolate dish lol.
Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you so much, I’m so happy you all loved them 🙂
Lovely recipe! I reduced the sugar. Very delicious! Thanks
So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
Since diagnosed with coeliac disease I miss things like Kingstons 🙁 I made this recipe using Aldi Has No Plain Flour and quinoa flakes instead of the oats to make it gluten free – the biscuits are crisp and golden they are a little sweeter than I remember but still an excellent and easy recipe. Thank you.
So happy you loved them Obe. Now you know you can still get your Kingston fix 🙂
My husband has declared that they are the best biscuit I’ve ever made and believe me I have made thousands over the years.
I’m so so happy he loved them Cheryl 🙂
Great recipe and SO delicious. I like these more than the original Arnott’s Kingston. I substitute the all-purpose flour for oat flour (oat meal would be fine too, I suppose?) and also use rice malt syrup instead of sugar as I prefer to eat sugar-free alternative. It works so well! Everyone in the household loves them. Thanks so much 🙂
I’m so happy you love them Marija. I’m looking forward to trying your substitutions 🙂
Hello,so I made these..they taste and smell amazing and come out chewy …what do I do to make them crunchy?
Hi there, are you letting them cool first? If so, try cooking them a little longer (2-3 minutes more). Test a couple first. If the colour is getting too dark, turn the temperature on the oven down and cook longer still.
Yes I let them cool first..will try leaving them in a bit longer..I’ll let you know how it turns out..Bless you..❤
Hi Marie,
Can I substitute the white flour for Spelt or Coconut flour? If so what measurements would you recommend for both the Spelt and Coconut flours?
Cheers
Pania
Hello Pania, I’m sorry, I don’t have experience using those flours so I can’t be certain if they would work. If they generally work substituted for plain / all purpose flours then yes, they should be fine
I use oat flour and it comes out great. However, spelt and coconut are a bit more fickle. Spelt probably won’t hold shape as well and coconut might need more wet ingredient to bind properly. I substitute sugar for rice malt syrup (and melt with the butter) and that works really well, so perhaps an option with the coconut flour. You’ll just need to research how much flour to use as the quantities aren’t 1:1.
These are great tips. Thanks so much Marija for this info 🙂
Hi
I have these a go but found. They spread out allot on my tray.
I used a small scoop (2tsp) and baked at 180 but I had to reduce to 170 as they got dark very quickly.
Any suggestions??
They do smell incredible though !!
Thx
Hi Sumayya, Darkening quickly normally means your oven is too hot or the position you placed them in your oven is too hot. I always recommend keeping an oven thermometer in there as thermostats are often out of whack. Just trying turning it down a tad. These will spread to about double the width. I’ve never had them spread so they are flat or anything. Did you use the exact ingredients? You could try refrigerating them for 15 minutes before baking.
very nice but we dont like coconut what we can use instade ? thanx
Hello Maha, you could use finely chopped nuts like almonds in place of the coconut.
This was so easy and incredibly delicious, thank you so so much for this recipe ♥️♥️♥️
You’re so welcome Nina. So happy you enjoyed them 🙂
Hi. Thanks for this recipe. Before I try it I’d like to check whether you’ve used a 20ml Australian standard tablespoon or a 15ml? Thanks
Hi T, I always use a 20ml tablespoon 😀 happy baking
These were always a favourite! How lovely to be able to make my own!
Thanks Alexandra 🙂