Gluten-free Jammy Dodger Biscuits
DIETARY - Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Nut-free
The jammy dodger is a British institution. Their very appearance evokes a sort of vintage nostalgia. I can remember tucking into many rounds of milk and jammy shortbreads growing up – they were my sister’s favourite biscuit, though she strangely only liked them cold from the fridge!
Up until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t ever thought to make them myself, but upon discovering they were husband’s favourite biscuit pre-celiac disease, I thought I’d trial a gluten-free version. As with a lot of gluten-free baking, I expected the taste to be good but the texture to be a bit crumbly. However, the result was a very pleasant surprise! I had beautifully short, buttery biscuits that tasted every bit as good as the real McCoy! I was so excited it worked that I couldn’t wait to share it with anyone else looking for a British biscuit fix sans gluten.
Xanthan gum - This recipe calls for xanthan gum, which is a thickening agent and stabiliser that will stop your dough from spreading too much in the oven and help the finished biscuit hold together. It’s a key ingredient in gluten-free baking. Sometimes gluten-free flour already has xanthan gum in it, so always check the ingredients to be sure you’re not doubling up as too much xanthan gum will make your bake very sticky.
Gluten-free Jammy Dodger Biscuits
Ingredients:
- 375g gluten-free plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- ½ tsp xanthan gum (omit if the flour blend already contains it)
- 210g unsalted butter, cubed
- 125g raw caster sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla paste
- 3 medium egg yolks
- Your choice of jam for the filling
- Icing sugar, to dust
Method:
- Put the flour, xanthan gum and the cubes of butter into a food processor and whizz until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the sugar and whizz again.
- In a separate bowl, beat the vanilla paste and egg yolks together, then add to the food processor and pulse to form a dough.
- Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and knead to bring together. Form the dough into two flat rounds, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes in the fridge.
- Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 180°C (160°C Fan)/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the dough rounds to approx. 3mm thick. Stamp or cut out your desired biscuit shapes then carefully lift them on to one of the baking sheets.
- Roll out the other piece of dough and cut out the same number of shapes. Using a biscuit cutter or knife, punch out a hole or shape from the middle of each one. Lift the dough pieces on to the second baking tray.
- Bake both trays for around 10 minutes, until lightly golden. Leave the biscuits to cool on the tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once your biscuits are cool, spread the bottom biscuits with the jam of your choice then sandwich your second biscuit shapes on top. Sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy.