I prefer the jam to be chewy & slightly caramelised in biscuits that's why I've added jam to these before they are baked. They require a little more effort than the plainer Jam Drops - my daughter thinks the extra effort is worth it. 

 

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.  

 

Ingredients

Dry ingredients 

250 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

125 g Caster sugar

1/8 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking powder

 

Wet ingredients 

150 g Butter (melted)

1 Egg

2 tsp Vanilla

50 g Hot water

 

 Strawberry, raspberry or other berry jam

You'll need 2 similar shaped cookie cutters, one smaller than the other. 

 

Method

Mix together the dry ingredients - Bakers' Magic gluten free flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. Set aside.

Completely melt the butter. Add in the vanilla, egg & hot water. Whisk with a fork to combine. 

Pour wet ingredients onto dry ingredients & mix with a wooden spoon/spatula. The mixture will be very sloppy at first - this is okay. 

Transfer the dough to the fridge until it is cold. Are you in a hurry to make the bikkies? If so pour/spoon the dough onto a large piece of baking paper, flatten the dough to approximately 1 cm thick, wrap it in the baking paper & put it in the fridge for at least 1 hour. 

Prepare a work surface - clean benchtop, pastry mat or baking paper. Transfer the dough to the work surface & knead until it is pliable.  

Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 3 - 5 mm. The dough for the Jam Fancies shown was 5 mm thick (Less thick means more biscuits with more jam being used). I use stainless steel spacers (1 mm, 2 mm or 3 mm thick) on either side of the dough as a guide for the height of the dough. When rolling out the dough ensure the rolling pin is wide enough to span the dough and part of the top of the spacers. My rolling pin is large – 61 cm from handle to handle. Initially when rolling the pin may not necessarily rest on the spacer, however, when the dough is the same thickness as the spacer it will. At this stage the dough should be all the same thickness.

Transfer rolled dough in the baking paper to a baking tray. You may need 2 trays depending on the height of the dough. 

Refrigerate rolled dough for ~30 mins or until the dough is relatively stiff. 

Turn oven on to 160^o C.

Bring out the rolled dough. Lift off the top piece of baking paper & then put it back on, flip over the dough & remove the other piece of baking paper (now on the top). Doing this makes it easier to get the cut out dough pieces off the paper. 

Use the top piece of baking paper to line a baking tray.

Use the cutter to make as many "bottom biscuits" as possible. Transfer half of the bottom biscuit dough to the lined baking tray. Transfer the remaining bottoms into the freezer for approximately 10 minutes - it makes it easier to manipulate them later.

Put a dollop of jam on top of the bottom dough piece that is on the baking tray. I used a combination of different fruit jellies I'd made (Apple & quince jelly, Vanilla, blackberry & apple jelly with an added bit of rose water - I blitzed the jelly combination with a stab blender. The colour is natural and from the blackberries & quince). 

Take the remaining cut dough out of the freezer. Use the smaller cookie cutter to punch out the middle.

Carefully put the outer dough pieces on top of the jammed dough.

Roll up the remaining dough, including the middle cut out bits and roll out to the same thickness as you did previously. Repeat the cutting, jam dolloping etc. 

Bake in the oven for ~20 - 25 mins. It will depend on your oven & how thick the rolled out dough is. Turn the trays halfway through cooking if your oven has a hot spot. 

Bring the tray(s) out of the oven & put them on cooling racks. Allow the biscuits to cool before trying them.

Are they crisp? or do they have a slightly soggy middle? How crisp the biscuits are depends on how long they were baked for & the runniness of the jam used for the middle.

If they are slightly soggy & you want a crunchier biscuit turn the oven on to 100 C. Stack the biscuits one slightly on top of another on a baking tray (for example the photo below). Put the tray in the oven for approximately 1 hour. At 100 C the water in the biscuit will evaporate but the sugar in the jam won't burn.  

 Ensure biscuits are cool before storing in an airtight container.

Simply enjoy!