Like most French children, the bakery it played a big role in my earliest food memories.
The bakery on the corner was the mythical place where you bought snacks afterschoolwhere adults could be watched closely as they waited in line with their mothers for their Saturday lunch baguette, and where they secretly bought candy for a few cents to sneak into their room and share with their sister.
My allegiance to after-school snacks came and went. There was a long time to get a milk bun (Milk bread) with an unwrapped milk chocolate bar, without foil and inserted inside. I never cared raisin bread (eww raisins) but I was all for the almond croissants.
One of my absolute favorites was the glasses of jam (“jam glasses”), a football-shaped, sugar-dusted biscuit sandwich with scalloped edges and two holes cut out to reveal the layer of jam holding the sablés together (see this video).
I loved them dearly, so it meant a lot that my kids took to them like a fish to water when I I got a box at the organic shop. They knocked them down faster than we could buy them, my two year old was clamoring for “Nettes! Net!” and I decided to try making them myself.
Until I invest in the right one cookie cuttersand since Easter is upon us, I had the idea to make it egg-shaped biscuits rather than eyeglasses. So I designed an egg stencil in two sizes, which you can download here with my compliments. I printed it on thick paper and used it to cut out the biscuits with the tip of a sharp knife.
So it’s all very simple: you prepare the dough for the biscuits, cut out the shapes, cut out circles in half of the biscuits, bake them and pair them two by two with a layer of jam in the centre. For the biscuit base I used my recipe for French Christmas sablés, which produces crunchy and delicious biscuits, omitting the cinnamon and lowering the sugar to make room for the sweetness of the jam.
These will be perfect if you celebrate Easter, to give as a gift, or to serve at brunch, or with afternoon tea while the children run around hunting for chocolate. Having two sizes makes the Easter cookie tray much more attractive. I also cut out some little hearts with the pasta scraps, and they were the first to disappear.
I used a strawberry and raspberry jam which I got at the organic store, but you would get bonus points if you use your own homemade jam. And if you can’t think of eating anything but chocolate at Easter, you can replace the jam with ganache or chocolate and hazelnut spread.
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Biscuits with Easter Egg Jam Recipe
ingredients
- 200 grams (7 ounces, about 1 1/2 cups) all-purpose Flourplus more for dusting
- 125 grams (10 tablespoons) sugar (I use unrefined blond brown sugar)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 125 grams (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted buttercut into cubes and softened (I let it rest for about 2 hours at room temperature)
- Quality 175 grams (6 ounces). jam such as strawberry, raspberry, apricot… (you can also use the chocolate-hazelnut spreadable cream)
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Prepare the dough at least 8 hours before, or the day before.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the egg and mix well.
- Add the butter in pieces, mixing it before adding another piece. The dough will be quite soft; it will become solid after cooling.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and shape each portion into a thick disk. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to a day.
- Line a baking tray with a silicone mat or baking paper.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F).
- Take a piece of dough from the refrigerator. On a well-floured work surface and using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of 2-3 mm. Keep everything well floured to prevent it from sticking.
- Bonus trick: I use two chopsticks as “rails” under the rolling pin to initially roll out the dough evenly. Then I remove them to roll out the dough thinner.
- Print egg shapes on thick paper, cut them out and use them as a stencil to cut egg shapes into the dough with the tip of a sharp knife.
- Arrange them on the baking sheet as you go. The cookies won’t spread much while baking, so it’s okay to keep them a little close together, not too close. Cut a circle in the center of half of the “eggs” and remove it to create a hollow “yolk”.
- Gather the scraps (including the circles) into a ball without overworking it, and roll it out again and again to cut out as many biscuits as possible. If the dough is too soft, put it back in the fridge to firm up.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown. Let rest 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat the operation with the remaining pieces of dough.
- When the biscuits are completely cold, spread a thin layer of jam on the full shapes and cover with the perforated jam. (I advise you to make a first test biscuit to evaluate how much jam suits your tastes in terms of sweetness.)
- Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.
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https://cnz.to/recipes/cookies-small-cakes/easter-egg-jam-cookies-recipe/
Unless otherwise indicated, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier.
