I can’t wait to share this recipe for these jammy bites of deliciousness and some top tips for the perfect jam drop!
I am a bit obsessed with biscuits with jam – remember these Vanilla Jam Star Cookies? I think it’s because when I was a kid, I used to love Jammy Dodger biscuits. I would bite the top half off, spend ages licking the jam in the middle, before devouring the bottom bit of biscuit. Nothing much has changed with the onset of age. I still love jam as much as I did when I was a kid, if not moreso.
Confession time, I don’t actually know where I got this Jam Drop recipe from, but I do know it wasn’t from my grandmother because I call her nana and her speciality is this amazing Bread Pudding.
Anyhoo, back to this recipe which incidentally is one of the first I ever posted. It needed some new pics and I wanted to add a Thermomix conversion, but I had got myself in a pickle, or should I say a bit of a jam! You see, no matter how delicious those drops tasted, my jam would “bleed” into the biscuit every time. Of course, this in no way impaired the edible experience but it did spoil the aesthetic.
So I did what any sensible person would do and consulted the bakers of the internets who gave me tips that were so good, it would be rude not to share. The best trick is to fill the biscuits not when they go in to the oven, but half way through baking, this stops the jam spreading too much and also allows you to re-dent the biscuits if they are rising too much. Also, use a good quality jam and use it straight from the fridge for best results. Personally, I like to use a variety of jams in my biscuits, which makes it a veritable biscuity smorgasboard.
This is such a quick and easy recipe and I love that a relatively small amount of ingredients yields so much rustic deliciousness. It’s quality and quantity!
What do you call your grandmother? What’s your favourite flavour jam?
Ingredients
60g butter, softened
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup (80g) caster sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 ½ cups (210g) self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
¼ cup (80g) good quality jam
How to – Traditional
- Preheat oven to 180 C/160 C fan-forced. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Combine butter, egg, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add flour and salt and mix well.
- Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place onto baking tray. Make an indentation in the centre of each biscuit with the end of a wooden spoon, taking care not to press right through the bottom.
- Bake for about 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and if necessary use the wooden spoon to reinforce the holes. Using a teaspoon, fill the indent with a little jam. Less is definitely more at this stage!
- Bake for a further 6 minutes or until light golden. Remove from the oven, if necessary top up the biscuits with a little more jam. Cool the biscuits on a wire rack.
How to – Traditional
- Preheat oven to 180 C/160 C fan-forced. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
- Place butter and sugar in TM bowl and mix for 10-15 seconds on speed 5.
- Add egg and mix for 20 seconds on speed 4.
- Add flour and mix for 20-30 seconds on speed 3 until a dough forms.
- Roll teaspoonfuls of the dough into balls and place onto baking tray.Make an indentation in the centre of each biscuit with the end of a wooden spoon, taking care not to press right through the bottom.
- Bake for about 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and if necessary use the wooden spoon to reinforce the holes. Using a teaspoon, fill the indent with a little jam. Less is definitely more at this stage!
- Bake for a further 6 minutes or until light golden. Remove from the oven, if necessary top up the biscuits with a little more jam. Cool the biscuits on a wire rack.
