I can’t believe it has taken me this long to post Jam Drops. These became one of my favourite biscuits when I lived with Jody, Lisa, Heather and Katherine in the Ballyshannon house in Sydney (yes 5 girls in a house)! I have eluded to Ballyshannon in a few post, but here is the full story, well as much as I’m willing to tell anyway!

Jody and I lived in a great house in Balgowlah (don’t you just love the names of Australian suburbs) but unfortunately as sometimes happens with rental properties, we needed to move out. Fortunately, Lisa told us that 2 girls were moving out of the Ballyshannon house, so our little dilemma was fixed.

Let me tell you about the Ballyshannon house. It was a 3 story house bottom floor (C level) had a pool a large slatted floor area, a bedroom, bathroom (no shower) and laundry. The middle level (B level) had a fully self container flat, a small room (which became my singing teaching room) and another large room that was divided up amongst the people who needed office/artistic space and the garage, that never container a car, just boxes full of stuff, oh and Lisa’s books. The top level (A level) had three bedrooms, one with its own ensuite, and 2 other rooms, one with a toilet and then the main bathroom. The kitchen, lounge and dinging room where also on this level as well as a wrap around balcony, which gave us many a wonderful sunset looking over the national park toward Paramatta.

It was a huge house and it housed 5 girls very well (we all had out own toilet and space to get ready when going out!), however, there was a lot of changing residence in the time I lived there, but you know when you get a group of girls and it just fits… well there was a, what I would call the golden period of the four girls, mentioned above including me (so five in total), where we got on famously and everything seemed great. Don’t get me wrong, there was still a bit of biffo, as there were some strong independent personalities (me included) but there was a period of time where it just worked!

oops one is missing… ummm I may have already eaten it 🙂

Jody re introduced me to Jam Drops, I’m not a great fan of Strawberry Jam, so I generally make them with my Apricot and Rum Jam or mum’s Rosella Jam. If you haven’t tried making your own jam, give it a go, if you have a good recipe its pretty hard to stuff up! 🙂 See below for my Apricot Jam recipe. You need a thick Jam, I find that most strawberry jam’s aren’t thick and because I like a lot of jam on my drops it always seems to run over the side!

Anyway, back to Jam drops, they are delicious and simple and great for using up all those half jars of jam in the fridge, because nothing goes to waste in Mother Hubbard’s Kitchen. I think it is great when you have all different colours of Jam Drops, but if you have a bit of OCD (or CDO) then you may like to have them all the same.

They are a little sticky and hard for lunch boxes, but if you just place a small piece of baking paper over the Jam part of the biscuits it helps when transporting. This recipe is based on Day to Day Cookery by I.M Downes.

Ingredients

This recipe makes 35 large Jam drops.

250 g Butter

1 cup Castor Sugar (white sugar for the TM)

3 1/2 cups Self Raising Flour (560g)

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

300 – 400g Jam (must be a thick jam)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees and prepare trays with baking paper.

1. Beat butter and sugar to a cream.

2. Add eggs and beat well then add vanilla.

3. Gradually mix in sifted flour and mix into a stiff paste.

4. Take a level tablespoon of mixture and roll into a ball (you can make smaller ones if you like, but cook them for less time).

5. Flatten out ball of mixture and gentle place your thumb in the centre (this is to make space for the jam).

6. Place a good teaspoonful of jam into the thumb hole. Be generous with the jam as the worst thing that will happen is it will run down the sides if it is a runner jam, yum!

7. Bake in a preheated oven (one tray at a time) for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown. Be careful not to cook them too long as they burn easily on the bottom!

8. When cooked, carefully place biscuits on cooling rack.

THERMOMIX METHOD

This recipe was made in the TM5, but exact quantities can be made in the TM31

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees and prepare trays with baking paper.

2. Place sugar in mixing bowl and mill 30 seconds/speed 10.

3. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl, add Butterfly then butter and beat sugar and butter together 60 seconds/speed 4.

4. Add eggs and vanilla and beat 15 seconds/speed 4.

5. Remove Butterfly and add self raising flour, mixing  20 seconds/speed 5 using the spatula to move the mixture around.

Just a note added 13/01/2015… You may like to empty the contents of the mixing bowl and squash it together with your hands as it may not com together completely in the thermomix, also if it is really humid (often is in Queensland) you may like to pop your mixture into the fridge for 20 minutes to let it harden a bit)

5. Take a level tablespoon of mixture and roll into a ball (you can make smaller ones if you like).

6. Flatten out ball of mixture and gentle place your thumb in the centre (this is to make space for the jam).

7. Place a good teaspoonful of jam into the thumb hole. (Be generous with the jam as the worst thing that will happen is it will run down the sides, yum!)

8. Bake in a preheated oven (one tray at a time) for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown. Be careful not to cook them too long as they burn easily on the bottom! Cool and eat!

I like to have one or two with a cup of tea when they are warm, not hot, or otherwise the jam will burn your mouth. I always think of Jody when I makes these, as they are one of her favourites and she says that her Jam drops are the best… I think that her husband thinks hers are the best 🙂 but I will just go with mine are pretty good!

Like I said, a very easy biscuit and a great way to use up all those random bottles of jam in your fridge! I look forward a great year of recipes that I hope will help you to make delicious food and help your weekly budget!

Please, don’t forget to leave a comment, I really do love hearing from you!

Enjoy Irresponsibly!

Liz xx

If you like this blog you may likes these

Apricot and Rum Jam (Thermomix Method Included)

 It’s All About Me

Anzac Biscuits (Thermomix Method Included)

Elizabeth Connolly

subscribe to receive 3 FREE eBooks

I have been cooking since I can remember. I am a Thermomix consultant, so now (whenever possible) try to give you Conventional AND Thermomix methods for the recipes. I like to share tips on how to save money and how making food from scratch isn't really that hard (especially with a Thermomix). If you have any questions about the Thermomix or cooking/food in general please email me as I'm happy to chat.
Liz xx
P.S Don't forget to subscribe to receive your 3 free e-Books.