Tuesday, 22 July 2014

Dainty Almond Jam Drop Biscuits...


It was late in the second week of the school holidays. The kids had exhausted every avenue of fun available to them. It was grey outside, cold, there was nothing to do - what to do?
I baked!
Baking always makes the kids behave for a small while. I can usually wring compliance out of them too - "Clean up my lounge room or no biscuits!" (Or whatever.)
I guarantee it works every time.

Dainty Almond Jam Drop Biscuits are elegant little thin, almondy flavoured gems and I would otherwise have called them Sanity Savers but it just didn't have the same appealing ring to it.

These are very yummy and a batch makes around 25 delicate biscuits. They would make great lunchbox treats too or bake to take on long car trips and keep the backseat passengers entertained.

I whipped up a batch ready to bake in around 15 minutes so they are nice and straight forward and road tested to be busy-Mum friendly.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.

To the bowl of a mixer add: (Use a dough hook if using your mixer and adapt for hand mixing.)

125 grams of margarine,
1/2 a cup of caster sugar,
1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla essence and mix well together.

Then add:

1 cup of almond meal
and 1 egg and continue beating until well combined.
Add 1 cup of plain flour and mix until all is blended perfectly.

Line two baking sheets with baking paper and place teaspoon sized balls of dough allowing a good distance between each biscuit for spreading. (Be warned, they spread quite a bit.)
Gently poke a flour dipped finger into the centre of each cookie and using the tip of a pointed butter knife, dab a small amount of raspberry jam into each.


Bake each batch for 15 minutes and allow to cool on the tray before transferring to a wire rack.

Use a good quality raspberry jam such as the French brand Bonne Maman. A thick-set, fruity jam is best as the heat will make a runny jam melt into your dough.


Dainty Almond Jam Drop Biscuits
 
 
Meet my new kitchen mascot - Duplo Duck!
Joaquin built this amazing giant duck for his baby sister at the beginning of the school holidays. She loves it!
He has been living on my kitchen counter overseeing all the meals for a fortnight since.
I cannot bear to part with him. He's such a happy soul!
 
Do you resort to baking too, when your kids are driving you crazy?
 
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Lemon Muesli Cookies
 
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Location: Melbourne VIC, Australia

18 comments:

  1. My Esther loves cooking in the kitchen too. We bake chocolate chip cookies together but I have to watch that she doesn't taste test all the chocolate chips!!

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    1. It's usually me who has to stop my own self from eating all the chocolate chips - I am very sneaky with some of the ingredients :D.

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  2. I have a very similar recipe to this. Haven't baked them forever! May just have to give yours a try this week. Yum.

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  3. Delicious! I often turn to baking as a way to distract my toddler, the only problem is then trying to stop him eating all of the batter!

    PS. Love your new kitchen mascot :)

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    1. There's nothing like a treat to pull all the chaos together.

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  4. I find cooking with the kids fun for five minutes, and then painful for the rest. Taking it in turns and not getting stuff everywhere gets a bit stressful for all of us!

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    1. Totally agree Jess - kids are messy and frustratingly slow to do things which doesn't sit well with my impatience! Just make them clean while you do the baking!

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  5. Oooh this sounds like a friend in a biscuit, and I love friends. Will definitely try these. I enjoy cooking with my girls, but not biscuits so much. They start out well rolling them into balls, but not long after they start rolling them into all kinds of play dough shapes, I wish I didn't, but I do find it annoying!!!

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    1. It makes you feel so guilty when you don't enjoy the whole 'wholesome Motherhood' thing doesn't it?!

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  6. You updated your blog layout slightly, I like it! Yum love Jam Drops, especially anything with almonds. I wish my kids would behave when I make baked goods, can you please come and work your magic on them. The lounge room is definitely NOT clean.

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    1. You've got to bribe Hope! No cookies if there's no cleaning.
      Yes, I have had some updating on the blog - I had page loading issues that were getting irritable (I love images). It was all going a bit slow. Nothing like a freshen up every so often. :D

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  7. Takes me back to my high school days when I did home economics. I still have my 'Day to Day Cookery' cook book and jam drops were a speciality of mine.

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  8. You are so talented! They look yummy - a real bargaining tool! I would come and clean your lounge for one or two of those!!

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  9. Oh these look and sound divine. And yes... so pretty and dainty. I love a jam drop and can't wait to try your almond version out. I can imagine they would be absolutely moorish! Thank you so much for linking your yummy recipe up with our Fabulous Foodie Fridays party! xx Lucy from Bake Play Smile

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  10. Those look so good. My kids enjoy cooking but I swear it stresses me out unless I just leave them to it now. They are 9 and 11 so I hope soon they can manage it all alone start to finish lol

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