Jammie dodgers are a childhood favourite here in the UK, and these vegan offerings will certainly not disappoint. These heavenly biscuits feature sweet raspberry jam sandwiched between rich, buttery shortbread; what isn’t to love?
I did a bit of wiki-peding and discovered that jammie dodgers are the most popular children’s biscuits in the UK, however 40% of the sales are consumed by adults. Yes that’s right, we adults are the real scoffers, of course it’s all in the name of education and teaching kids not to waste their food.
The shortbread
Shortbread is often made with butter, flour and egg. To veganise the jammy biscuits I’ve simply swapped out the butter for margarine; trust me you won’t notice the difference. I’ve added a pinch of cornstarch to help bind the pastry dough and create a shortbread with a pleasant crisp texture. We all savour the moment when you bite into a thick wedge of shortbread and munch your way through the remaining buttery slab. It’s the simple moments right?
The raspberry jam
Now you can just go out and buy raspberry jam but where is the fun in that? Homemade jam is surprisingly easy to make. Just do the wrinkle test (found in the recipe below). So, the wrinkle test is a serious scientific test that results in perfectly set natural jam with no need for pectin, agar agar or cornflour.
Heat the berries, sugar and lime over a low heat to begin with. This slowly dissolves the sugar and ensures it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Next bring the jam to a rolling boil and continue like this for 6 minutes. Perform the extra scientific wrinkle test and if ready, sieve your jam and pop in the fridge to set. Voila! You have made jam in under 10 minutes!
Leave a comment and let me know how you get on making these vegan jammie dodgers. I would love to see your creations over on instagram!
more vegan treats
fatcooks (zimbabwean doughnuts)
Vegan Jammie Dodgers
Ingredients
For the shortbread
- 250 g margarine
- 125 g caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
- 450 g plain flour
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
For the jam
- 300 g raspberries
- 300 g caster sugar
- 1 lime
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer or elective whisk, cream the margarine and sugar until light and paler in colour. Whisk in the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl mix the flour, cornflour and baking powder, then add to the creamed mixture. Continue to whisk until it forms a wet soft dough. Tip out onto the work surface and mould into a disk. Wrap in clingfilm and cool in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Next make the jam. Put a small plate in the freezer. Add the raspberries, caster sugar and 1.5 teaspoons lime juice to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a low heat. Mash the berries with the back of a spoon. When the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat and bring the mixture to a rolling boil (the bubbles should not settle when stirred). Continue to boil for 6 minutes.
- Remove from the heat. To check the jam is ready perform the ‘wrinkle test’. Remove the plate from the freezer and add a teaspoon of jam. Return the plate to the freezer for one minute. The jam should retain it’s shape when pushed. If it doesn’t wrinkle, heat for a further minute.
- Add the jam to a sieve to remove the seeds. Then place the bowl in the fridge for a minimum of 20 minutes to cool and set.
- Remove the pastry mix from the fridge and generously flour the work surface. Half the dough and roll out to roughly a pound coin / 3mm thickness.
- Use a 7.5cm fluted cookie cutter to cut out 14 rounds, roll the remaining dough again and stamp out a further 14 rounds. Use a 2.5cm heart pastry cutter to stamp hearts into the centre of 14 biscuit. Flour the work surface as needed to prevent the pastry from sticking.
- Place the biscuits back in the fridge for another 20 minutes. Pre heat the oven to 180C/ 160c fan. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
- Bake the biscuits for 14-16 minutes or until they are pale golden in colour. Leave on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Sprinkle icing sugar over the tops of each biscuit. Then spoon a heaped teaspoon of jam onto the base of the biscuits and spread evenly, leaving a small border around the edges. Firmly sandwich over the top biscuit and serve.