cookies | My Tryst with Baking

I was going through my school photo album and reminiscing the most carefree, fun-filled days of my life. I was telling my better half all the silly things me and my friends would do at school.Diving further into past I remembered that we, my brother and I would pester our mom to get us cream biscuits. They are nothing but two biscuits with a flavored cream or jam within them. Much to my mother’s annoyance and amusement, we would open up the cream biscuit, lick off the delicious cream and discard the biscuits! 🙂

The ones filled with jam were called Jim Jam and my family loved to have this with tea.

In memory of my childhood days, I have made butter biscuits and topped the jam on two biscuits instead of making it as a sandwich so I don’t embarrass my hubby. 🙂

Mini Sablés

Makes about 325 g dough – Makes about 24-26

Ingredients:

125 g all purpose flour
100 g butter, cut into small pieces and slightly softened
50 g icing sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
1 egg yolk

Instructions :

Preheat the oven to 170°C.Line a baking tray with baking mat or baking paper.

Heap the flour on the work surface and make a well. Put in the butter, icing sugar and salt.
With your fingertips, mix and cream the butter with the sugar and salt, then add the egg yolks and work them in delicately with your fingertips.

Slowly, draw the flour into the center and work the mixture delicately with your fingers until you have a homogeneous dough.

Using the palm of your hand, push the dough away from you 3 or 4 times until it is completely smooth.
Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

There are a lot of ways you can bake these biscuits!You could just bake them the way they are or if you have kids, they would love to have Strawberry jam biscuits.You could also just top them up with some almond flakes and voila!
You have a treat to serve for a tea party.

Roll out the dough to a 2-3 mm thickness.Using a cookie cutter, cut out as many discs as possible.

Make the sablés as below:

Strawberry Jam:
Place an even number of cut out dough (discs) on a baking sheet and moisten lightly with pastry brush dipped in cold water.You could also just pat water with your fingertips.

Cut a hole in the center of half of the discs and place them on top of the solid discs.

Use a teaspoon to fill the cavities with the jam, then brush the borders with egg wash.

Almond:
Place the desired number of pastry discs on a baking sheet, brush with egg wash and arrange 5 or 6 almond flakes on each one.

Bake the sablés:
Bake the sablés for 6-10 minutes, depending on their thickness.

If you’d prefer more color, increase the temperate to 180 for the last minute or two.

Transfer to a wire rack and cool before serving.

My mom would serve tea in the pretty tea cups with saucers. I have none, 😦 and we Indians like our tea in glass too, this one is french…. 🙂
ummmm..masala chai in a french glass served with french sablés, pretty neat I’d say 😉