Bite-Size Raspberry Jam Biscuits | Eggless Raspberry Jam Biscuits

Many years ago, I came across the jammie biscuit in England. Pretty yellow biscuits, with a sticky baked jam center really made my day. I loved them with my afternoon cuppa (shorthand for a cup of tea on the British Isles)!! They also reminded me of the jam biscuits we ate as kids back in India. The only difference was that in India, the filling was mixed fruit jam, a species of jam rarely found on super market shelves elsewhere, while in England, the filling was always raspberry jam, or apricot preserve!!

Time flew, I moved away from both countries, and I forgot about the jammie biscuit!! On visiting India earlier this year, I found this biscuit in my Mum's cookie cabinet. Excitedly, I pulled down the jar and bit into one....mmmmm this was it, and the need for a jam biscuit with afternoon tea returned. I gorged on them while there, and on return promised myself that I would try and bake them at home. And so last weekend I did - and were they good!! I have adapted this recipe from several versions that I found on the Internet, and the jam I used for the filling was my very own home made raspberry jam, from a batch I made in the summer of 2010!! If you like this recipe, you may want to try out my jam recipe too.

Ingredients:
11/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup custard powder
1/2 cup cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup butter
1 cup icing sugar
6 tbsp buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup raspberry jam

Method:

1. Sift together the flour, custard powder, cornflour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. 
2. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and icing sugar until the mix is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and blend in well.
3. Add the sifted flour mix to the butter sugar blend a tablespoon at a time and blend well. 
4. Alternate with the buttermilk to achieve a soft and malleable dough, that should not be sticky.
5. Knead this dough for 10 minutes, cover, set aside and allow to rest and chill for at least 45 minutes.
6. This is a good time to prepare the jam for the filling. Place the jam in a microwave safe bowl, add 2 tablespoons of water, mix to loosen the jam. Microwave this mix for a minute. Stir immediately for an even consistency, allow to cool completely.
7. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, knead for a minute, then pinch out a portion of the dough.
8. Roll it to a 5-6mm thickness. Using your choice of cookie cutter cut out shapes,transfer to a prepared cookies sheet.
9. Gently press the center of the cut shapes with your fore finger to create a small flat depression in the cookie.
10. Using a small condiment spoon, place a tiny amount of jam in the depression. Repeat for remaining dough and jam.
11. Bake in an oven at 350F for 12-15 minutes, or until the sides and bottom begins to look golden. Remove and cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then on a wire rack in completely cooled.
12. Enjoy with tea, coffee, or milk!!

Good to know:

• I liked these biscuits slightly on the thicker side, because of the jam center, but you can make them as thin as 4mm. Any thinner will result in a soggy biscuit, as the jam will seep out of the bottom.
• These cookies will rise a little to become flaky. Keep at least two fingers gap between the cookies on the baking tray.
• The actual baking time of this biscuit varies depending on the size of the cookies sheet, the number of cookies baked per batch, and the size and efficiency of your oven. But don't worry, you will know when they are done by paying attention to a little golden appearing at the base edges of the cookies.

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