Hello,
Welcome back to another edition of the newsletter, it’s great to have you here!
This week I finally moved into my new home and I’m beyond excited to have all my beloved utensils and bakeware back and out of storage. (It’s the little things ey!).
After receiving all your lovely comments on my last article about authenticity, I thought it was only fair to continue the theme and share a recipe wholeheartedly inspired by these Ukranian cookies I saw on Felicity Spector’s Instagram a couple of months ago. Hopefully I’ve done them justice whilst also adding a bit of me.
Much love,
Cissy…xo
The rotating pastry menu at Hamblin almost always included some sort of shortbread; as small biscuits tossed in flavoured sugar and bagged for snacking, or as a thick crumbly base that held up a gooey nutty caramel and a layer of chocolate ganache (a version of a millionaire’s shortbread), or as a large chocolate and hazelnut biscuit, perfect for dunking. One of my favourite’s was a thumbprint cookie filled with a jammy centre. This recipe is a reworking of those cookies. These are part jammy dodgy, part pop tart, part thumbprint.
For this recipe I’ve given two shaping methods. One involves cookie cutters, the other doesn’t. Using cookie cutters will ensure all your shortbread biscuits are exactly the same, which results in a slightly neater bake. Without a cutter your biscuits will still be round but slightly more rustic looking. I advise reading both methods in full before deciding which one to follow. Remember, they’re going to taste exactly the same!
Recipe
Equipment
Electric beaters or stand mixer
Rolling pin (optional)
8cm round cookie cutter (optional)
Yields
8 cookies
Ingredients
200g plain flour
100g unsalted butter, softened
25g light brown sugar
25g golden caster sugar (plus extra for dusting)
1 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of flaky sea salt
80-100g jam (or curd)
Method
MIXING:
In a bowl cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla and salt until pale and fluffy. Around 5 minutes on medium to high speed.
Scrape down the bowl.
Mix in the dries on low speed until a dough forms.
OPTION 1:
Turn the dough out and roll into a short log about 8cm diameter and 9cm long.
Cling wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge, remove the cling film and place on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut the log into 16 equal pieces.
Place 8 of the shortbread rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and dock the centre of each with a fork.
Spoon around 1 tsp (around 10g) of your chosen jam into the centre of each of the rounds. (Don’t fill too much, or the jam will seep out the edges).
Place an unfilled and undocked shortbread round on top of each shortbread filled with jam, as if you were making a sandwich.
Lightly press together the top and bottom edges of each shortbread so that they are fixed together. (If the dough cracks slightly don’t worry).1
Place the filled shortbread biscuits in the fridge and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes.
OPTION 2 (using cookie cutters):
Turn the dough out onto a large piece of parchment. (Rolling between two sheets of parchment will prevent the dough getting stuck to your work surface).
Flatten the dough into a small rectangle (about 1 inch thick).
Place another piece of parchment on top of the dough. (1)
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is the thickness of a coin (around 3mm ish - you don’t want them to be too thick otherwise they will be very doughy when baked). (2)
Remove the top layer of parchment and set aside to use again. (3)
With the cookie cutter, cut as many rounds as possible from this sheet of dough. (4)
Slip this piece of parchment onto a baking tray and place in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. (5)
Remove from the fridge, then carefully lift each cut round onto a lined baking sheet. Set aside. (6)
Reform the excess dough into a block and repeat steps (1) to (6) until there is no more dough left.
You should now have 16 rounds of shortbread on a baking sheet.
Dock the centre of 8 rounds with a fork.
Spoon around 1 tsp (around 10g) of your chosen jam into the centre of each of the 8 docked shortbread rounds. (Don’t fill too much, or the jam will seep out the edges).
Place an unfilled shortbread round on top of each shortbread filled with jam, as if you were making a sandwich.
Lightly press together the top and bottom edges of each shortbread so that they are fixed together. (If the dough cracks slightly don’t worry).2
Place the filled shortbread biscuits in the fridge and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes.
BAKING
Preheat the oven to 180c / 160c fan.
Bake the shortbread for 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
Remove from the oven.
Allow to cool slightly for 1-2 mins before carefully flipping over.3
Return to the oven for 3-4 mins.
Remove from the oven.
Dust lightly with 1 tbsp golden caster sugar.
Allow to cool slightly before eating.
If the dough cracks that generally means it is too cold to handle. Leave out at room temp until slightly soft. Or leave as is - I quite like when the jam oozes and bubbles out.
See above.
The liquid in the jam will make the dough slightly soggy, so to ensure the whole biscuit bakes properly you will want to flip it over so that it gets an even colour and no soggy bottom.
If you’re looking for another cookie to make. Please check out my recipe for brown butter chocolate chip cookies by signing up to Kitty Cole’s newsletter on The Gloss.