On the Great British Baking Show, they always have a biscuit week. The challenges are fun and I thought I should give one of the recipes a try. A"biscuit" in Great Britain is a hard, thin, and crispy cookie that has a snap and is sometimes filled with something yummy. By definition, it's sweet, crumbly and sometimes buttery. So this week/month, as my tribute to our friends across the pond, I made Paul Hollywood's Jammy Biscuits. They are easy to make, BUT they take some time. Delicious is an understatement. You'll have to give them a try and let me know what you think.
Because everyone, but us American's, use grams instead of cups, I am putting the recipe at the bottom of this post in both grams and measurements for those who don't want to figure out the conversions. But, remember, it's better to weigh the ingredients than to measure them. Just sayin!
Cream the butter and sugar together and beat for 3-5 minutes in your stand mixer. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until creamy. (*Note, I added half vanilla and half almond extract) Remove from the mixer and stir the flour and cornstarch in by hand. It will be on the crumbly side but that's okay. Pour it out onto a floured surface and gently work it with your hands to make a soft dough. Don't overwork it.
Divide the dough in half and then in half again so you have four equal sizes and form them each into a disc. Wrap east disc in plastic wrap and place in your refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, remove one disc and roll it out to about the thickness of a nickel - because this was my first time making these, (and I WILL make them again) some may have been a little thicker and some a little thinner. It's a learning process!
I cut them with a 3 inch fluted cookie cutter. Paul says to use a 2 3/4 inch but I didn't have one that size.
Place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper and put back into the refrigerator for another 20 minutes. You want half of your biscuits to be plain and the other half to have a cutout of your choice in it. I chose hearts for Valentine's Day!
After 20 minutes in the refrigerator, place them in a 325* oven for 10-12 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don't get too brown but you want them to start to barely brown around the edges. Mine actually baked for 14 minutes but it will be different for each oven, so watch them.
Let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes (I know, you will be setting your timer over and over and over). Remove to a cooling rack and let cool the rest of the way.
Once they are cooled they are ready to assemble.
Before hand, dust the tops with a generous amount of powdered sugar. You want them to really look beautiful!
Next, frost the bottoms of the plain biscuit with a little bit of the buttercream and then top that with your favorite jam. You can use raspberry, lemon curd, apricot preserves or strawberry jam. I used strawberry.
After you spread the jam, carefully top with a powdered sugar biscuit with the cutout. Look how cute these are. I took them to the office where I volunteer today and the ladies went a little crazy. There was not one soul who didn't rave about how yummy they are.
Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Biscuit Week!
Paul Hollywood's Jammy Biscuits
(this is a double batch because I needed more than 12 biscuits)
240 grams unsalted butter softened - 1 cup
240 grams sugar - 1 cup
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
430 grams all purpose flour - 3 1/2 cups
50 grams cornstarch - 1/2 cup
Buttercream
1/2 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Mix the butter until fluffy, sift in the powdered sugar and add the vanilla. Mix until thick and fluffy. I did add about 1 tsp of whipping cream to help bring it together. It will be thick.
Mix the butter and sugar until fluffy - about 3-5 minutes in your stand mixer. Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix until well blended. Remove from the stand mixer and stir in the flour and cornstarch (mix these together with a whisk) until almost mixed- it will be crumbly. Pour out onto a lightly floured surface and gently work with your hands into a soft dough. Do not overwork. Divide in half and then divide each half in half again. (*Note, if you are making half this recipe, only divide the dough in half)
Form each piece into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Put in the refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes.
After chilling your dough, remove one disc and roll out to about the thickness of a nickel. Cut with a fluted cookie cutter and place each biscuit onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Rework the dough scraps and cut more until you have 12 bottoms. Put back into the refrigerator to chill for another 20 minutes. Remove another disc and repeat the process, except, with these you want to cut a shape into the center of the biscuit. It can be any shape for any holiday that you want. Put the solid biscuit onto the cookie sheet and then cut the shape out. Save the dough and use it to make a few extra biscuits. Put them in to chill.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 325*
Bake the first sheet of biscuits for 10-12 minutes watch them so they don't get overly baked. You want the edges to just begin to brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack and cool the rest of the way.
Dust the tops with a generous amount of powdered sugar. Assemble the biscuits by spreading a dollop of the butter cream on the plain biscuit and then top with your choice of jam. Add the top biscuit. What a delightful treat.
Keep on Baking!
