I used to make these with my mum when I was a little girl and I remember relishing the task of pressing thumbprints into the dough and filling the holes with jam. It somehow felt so naughty to be sticking my finger straight into the middle of a perfectly rolled ball of dough. Chilling the dough is not absolutely crucial, but it does stop the biscuits from spreading too much.
Note: The addition of ground hazelnuts adds beautiful texture, as well as flavour, to this recipe. Use any flavour of jam or lemon butter. The wholemeal flour makes these biscuits a healthier option, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can use regular plain flour.
Time: 45 minutes
Makes: 45
Ingredients
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- 250g butter, softened
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- 150g brown sugar
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- 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
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- 1 egg
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- 260g wholemeal plain flour
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- 55g ground hazelnuts
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- raspberry jam
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- apricot jam
Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg and beat until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and ground hazelnuts, mixing until the dough just comes together to form a ball. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Take 2 teaspoons of the dough at a time and roll into balls. Arrange on the prepared baking trays and flatten slightly by pressing your thumb or index finger (or the end of a wooden spoon) into the centre of each dough ball to make an indent. Fill each indent with about 1/4 teaspoon jam. Bake in the oven for 10–15 minutes, or until golden.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Top up each indent with more jam, if needed, while they’re still hot.
Recipe taken from Something for Everyone, by Louise Fulton Keats. Published by Hardie Grant.
Also read: Lyn’s Peanut Biscuits
