Jammy Dodgers
These jammy dodgers are the perfect Valentine's surprise! Quick to make and beautiful packaged up as a gift, you can't really go wrong. The buttery shortbread pairs perfectly with the sweet, tart jam and a little dusting of icing sugar makes for the prettiest biscuits. Serve with a morning cup of tea or coffee, or as a late afternoon snack.
What makes these jammy dodgers so special?
A classic dunker, especially a retro biccie, that's homemade with love is more than anyone could ask for. Here's why I love these so much:
The biscuits can be made in advance. Make the biscuits 2-3 days before assembling. Simply store in an airtight container!
They look super pretty for gifts. Whether you're giving these to your partner, best friend, parent or sibling, these make for the most beautiful gift.
They take 1hr max to make. You have to rest the dough, and bake them for 10 minutes but from start to finish this recipe is complete in one hour.
Ingredients and alternatives:
Flour: you can use Maizebite flour which makes for a gorgeously golden biscuit dough, or cake and pastry flour instead of plain.
Yolks: Clarence Court sell cartoned yolks which means there's no food waste!
Sugar: if you don't have golden caster sugar, use regular.
Vanilla: I prefer vanilla bean paste for a stronger flavour, but essence or extract will do too.
Lard: adding lard to the dough gives these biscuits the most flaky texture, but you can certainly swap the lard for more butter if you prefer.
Butter: always use unsalted and make sure it's cold!
Jam: I prefer raspberry jam however, strawberry, cherry or any other berry preserve would work nicely in these.
Got a problem with these jammy dodgers?
How do I know when to stop bringing my dough together?
You want to make sure it's even in colour, but be careful not to overwork it as this'll cause your biscuits to be tough rather than flaky. Use your hands to "claw" the mixture rather than press down on it or "knead" it. As it starts to form a ball and a few dry crumbs are still to be incorporated, that's when you know to stop.
Help! My dough is sticking to the surface
The fats (butter/lard) in your pastry may have gotten too hot from being handled too much. Make sure you refrigerate your dough for at least 30 minutes and handle it gently, making sure your work surface is floured well to avoid sticking. Once rolled, pop it back in the fridge to firm up before cutting the rounds out. This will make it easier to handle.
My pastry for the jammy dodgers keeps falling apart
It will want to do this. One solution is to sandwich the dough in between two lightly floured pieces of parchment or baking paper, before rolling out. This will help it keep its shape without breaking up under your rolling pin.
Jammy Dodgers
Homemade jammy dodgers are the perfect Valentine's gift. Think buttery flaky biscuit, sandwiched with jam and finished with icing sugar.
375 g plain flour
110 g unsalted butter (cold and cubed)
100 g lard (cold and cubed)
125 g golden caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 large egg yolks (Clarence Court sell cartoned yolks!)
Raspberry jam
Icing sugar (for sifting)
Sieve your flour into a large bowl and add the cold, cubed butter and lard to the bowl. Rub the fats with the flour between your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. ⠀
Add the sugar and mix to combine.
Beat the vanilla and egg yolks in a small cup, and add to the flour mixture. ⠀
Start gently bringing the dough together until it’s even in colour. Don’t overwork it as that’ll make for a tough biscuit.
Place in the fridge for 30mins to rest. ⠀
Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / 350F.
Remove the dough from the fridge and flour a work surface, rolling the dough to a thickness of half a centimetre. It may want to break apart but persevere. Keep moving it around carefully and ensuring your rolling pin and surface are always floured so it doesn’t stick. ⠀
Using a cookie cutter, cut rounds out, re-rolling any scraps until you’ve used up all the dough. Stamp hearts out of the centre of half the rounds and place them all on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 10mins then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely on the tray. ⠀
Dust the cookies with heart cut-outs with sieved icing sugar, spread raspberry jam on the other half and then sandwich the top and bottoms together. ⠀