These are delicate little nibbles. More befitting the word biscuit than cookie. I think it has to do with the ground almonds, they immediately give these cookies more elegance and refinement. Exactly the kind of delicacy you would expect, accompanying a cup of the most delicious cup of fragrant Darjeeling tea (for example first flush Steinthal TGFOP 2008 for all you tea snobs out there). And, for me, the biscuit with the bright red center is always the most appealing in a tin of ‘assorted cookies’.
Ingredients for the Almond Jam Cookies
makes about 20 cookies
110 grams pastry flour
50 grams fine sugar
125 grams unsalted butter in cubes
30 grams ground almonds
pinch of salt
3 tbsps strawberry or raspberry jam
squeeze of lemon juice
How to make the Almond Jam Cookies
Preheat the oven at 170ºC / 340ºF.
Put flour, ground almonds, salt and sugar in a bowl and combine. Ad the butter in cubes, crumble with your fingertips, then bring together to form a dough. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Turn your jam of choice into a smooth paste with a hand blender, so there are no chunks of fruit left (or you can use a fruit puree). Warm up the jam with the squeeze of lemon juice in a saucepan, and reduce it a little (if necessary) to make it nice and thick. Leave to cool.
Now roll out the dough with a rolling pin (between two sheets of cling film to make it easier) until the sheet is about 3 millimeter thick. Cut out round shapes with a cookie cutter. Make a little shallow dent in the middle of each biscuit and add about a teaspoon of the jam.
Bake them for about 20 minutes in the middle of your oven until pale brown. Leave to cool on a cooling rack.
Enjoy!
Vera rudinica says
I am from Croatia living in Australia and my mum taught me to make these biscuits. What we do is rub the butter with the flour first and then add sugar and last any wet agents. The theory is that butter coats the flour strains first and thus produce a more flaky and delicate texture. I tried it both ways and it’s true. Good luck
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Vera,
Thank you for your advise. I have not made these cookies in a while and they always turned out with a good texture. But like you I am going to try it both ways and see the difference in texture with and without the addition of sugar to the butter and flour.
Happy baking in Australia!