Jam Biscuit

Jam Biscuit


I had written up a post for a traditional Bengali sweet dish and thought of making it my 250th recipe. However, during a conversation with my mom she asked me casually if it was the traditional recipe or I had given any twist. Then I realised that that particular post does not quite carry my stamp. I was also delighted with my baking trial the very same day so decided to share that joy as the 250th recipe. I had been meaning to make a jam sandwich biscuit for a while and finally managed to do so as I had to keep up my promise to the wee one. I did not want to load it with maida i.e. all purpose flour so decided to go whole wheat flour for most of it. Then came the idea of ground almonds as it is extremely good for health and also in the ground form makes it safe for wee ones to eat. I learned while watching Great British Bake off that ground almonds increases shelf life of baked products. In order to not compromise on the texture I did not reduce the butter an awful lot but used little less sugar than normal as the jam would add some sweetness too. It is recommended that jam be applied after baking else the biscuit may get soggy. I also kept the jam at room temperature hoping it will not contribute to sogginess of the biscuit. The biscuits came out grand and it was difficult to stop with just one. I am extremely pleased with my baking exercise and gives me confidence that I can come up with healthy and yummy baked dishes.

I would like to thank all my readers for your support and encouragement, without which I am not sure if I would have reached this milestone of 250 recipes. THANK U!

1 cup butter
1 cup wheat flour
½ cup ground almonds
½ cup all purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
Few teaspoons milk, as required
Jam (seedless) as required

Cream the sugar and butter together. It is important that the butter is soft so leave it at room temperature long enough

Add the wheat flour, all purpose flour, ground almonds and make a dough. If measured correctly, you may not need any milk, but if the dough still does not come together add a teaspoon of milk at a time and knead just until dough comes together. At one point the dough will hold together if held in your hands but fall apart when dropped and at the next stage it will just hold together. It will not be soft like chapatti dough.

If the butter has melted making the dough difficult to handle, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. The temperature in my place is quite low so I only rested the dough at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Take a portion of the dough and roll into about disc of about 4-5mm thick

Cut to desired shape using a cookie cutter and for each one cut another cookie with a hole in the centre. Place in a baking tray lined with greaseproof baking paper. Prick the whole biscuits with fork as you do not want this base biscuit to rise too much

Bake in a preheated oven at 180degC for about 8 minutes or until edge start browning

Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely

Apply some jam on whole biscuit and cover with biscuit with hole in the middle

Serve!