Investigating the Jammie Dodger

A Victoria Sponge, in biscuit form?

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My own take on the Jammie Dodger, with plummy jam.

After a little break, we are back for the third edition in my classic British biscuits series. We have investigated the Custard Cream, the Bourbon Biscuit and now, we move onto our third and final sandwich biscuit: The Jammie Dodger.

Righto, before we get into it, a vote for the next biscuit:

Want to get baking immediately? Here’s the jump to recipe button:

Here in the UK, the Jammie Dodger is considered something of a national treasure. Loved by kids (and big kids) across the country, they regularly hit the top ten in our favourite biscuit charts. They were always the first biscuit to disappear from the Christmas selection box in my house.

Perhaps due to childhood nostalgia, or because they are an inexpensive treat accessible to all, they have oozed their way into our British veins and the fabric of our culture. For many there is nothing more comforting than a crumbly bite filled with sticky, sweet jam.

What is a Jammie Dodger?

I’ve often seen the Jammie Dodger referred to as a ‘Linzer biscuit’ - that crunchy Austrian/German confection of deliciousness. While Jammie Dodgers hold similarities to Linzers, to me they are quite different.

A Linzer biscuit often uses ground almonds or hazelnuts in the biscuit dough, and can be flavoured with spices. My part German friend fills them with gorgeous nut pastes as well as different flavoured jams.

Jammie Dodgers on the other hand, aren't quite so fancy pants. Marketed as ‘family fun’, with daft, bright, cartoony packets, they are vanilla shortcake biscuits with a slightly softer, crumbly texture. While recipe testing, I joked they needed to look more ‘underbaked and anaemic.’ Which doesn’t really sell it, but that texture is vital - you want to be sweeping little crumbs from your clothes after a bite.

Testing all the Jammie Dodger flavours. L-R: Strawberry, Apple & Blackcurrant, Mango & Passion fruit & Classic Raspberry

The mass produced shop-bought brand comes in several flavours including mango and passion fruit (worth a punt, these are tangy and fresh), an underwhelming apple and blackcurrant, and the absolutely revolting Strawberry - a synthetic, saccharine atrocity. For us as a family, nostalgia wins with the traditional raspberry. (Or raspberry flavoured at least. More on that shortly.) Will I upset people if I call them a Victoria Sponge, in biscuit form?

Shop-bought Jammie Dodgers are also vegan. As they are made with palm and rapeseed oil rather than butter. However, due in part to their use of palm oil, they don’t have a great ethical rating on The Good Shopping Guide. Best to home bake them!

A bit o’ history

Introduced in the UK by biscuit company Burton in 1960, they are named after the character Roger the Dodger from The Beano comic,¹ as the company was angling for the children’s market.

“With a heart-shaped hole in the centre, through which a red jam filling could be glimpsed, it was intended to recall the nursery rhyme when the Knave of Hearts stole the tarts the Queen had baked, ‘all on a summer’s day’.”

Lizzie Collingham, The Biscuit: The History of a very British Indulgence.

As a company Burton (now Fox’s Burton’s Companies or FBC) was known as a bit of a “cheapskate”, and the jam was made with cheaper plums, rather than raspberries.² And the Jammie Dodger brand today uses a raspberry flavoured apple jam. In homage to this, the jam in my biscuit is predominantly plum, alongside raspberries, and apples too, for sweetness.

While FBC still holds the trademark for the official Jammie Dodger and its iconic splat design, many jam sandwich biscuit competitors exist - my personal favourite being the aforementioned Christmas selection boxes. Where the biscuits include a swirl design, and the jam is dusted with a little granulated sugar. Mmmm, the taste of childhood.

Are you a Jammie Dodger lover or a hater? I’d love to hear your biscuity thoughts.

Home Baked Bejewelled Beauties.

Five Biscuit Tips for Home Baking

• Rubbing in vs. creaming

  There are two ways I make biscuit dough. The first is by rubbing in the butter to the flour until they resemble breadcrumbs, as you would with scones and pastry. This method is often used when making shortbread to achieve a crumbly texture.

  The other method, which consists of creaming your sugar and butter together as you would when you make a cake, creates a lighter, fluffier biscuit. After testing both, this is the method I have gone for today.

• The Fridge is your Friend

  I consider biscuits a form of pastry, and I treat them similarly. Don’t overwork the dough, and keep it cold!

  Initially wrap the dough in cling film and rest it in the fridge for an hour before rolling. During rolling too, I often pop the dough back in the fridge for five minutes or so if it gets too warm and sticky. I also ensure I give the biscuits a final rest in the fridge for 20 minutes before baking.

• Roll between two sheets of parchment

  If the dough isn’t too sticky, which today’s recipe isn’t, you can roll it out between two sheets of baking parchment. This means you won’t impact the delicate ingredient ratio by adding extra flour and sugar during rolling. And it keeps your hot hands away from the dough!

• Use a mixture of caster sugar and flour to regularly dust your stamp

  This helps get the biscuits off the stamp, create a defined stamp imprint, and creates a lovely glisten on the biscuits from the sugar too.

• Keep it thick

  This was probably the hardest one for me, as I am so used to rolling 2mm pastry. But the secret to the jam sandwich biscuit is that the biscuits are thicker, at 5mm. So be lazy, and don’t roll too much.

More Jammie Dodger experiments

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The recipe - Plummy Jammy Dodgers

Initially, I planned to create a ‘healthy’ version, that wouldn’t cause chaos with blood sugar and may even have some whole fruit in it. But when I told a friend my plan, I was met with such a horrified expression it was quickly scrapped. We don’t want to commit baking sacrilege here.

I have made some concessions to health though. I have used white spelt flour, while this is still a refined flour, this ancient grain is said to contain less gluten and more nutrients than processed wheat flour.³

The biscuit itself contains less sugar than other recipes I investigated, and I have worked hard to create a plummy jam which includes much less added sugar than other recipes out there. The jam is a little involved, so, if you can’t face it, I won’t judge if you pop out and pick up a raspberry or plum jam.

A plate of Plummy Jammy Dodgers

Serves: Makes Approx. 10 biscuits

Time Taken: Approx. 1 hr, plus 1.5 hrs resting time

Specialist Equipment needed: Fluted cookie cutter and heart shaped cutter, or you can use a little star or circle, whatever you like. Or you can get a stamp here.

Ingredients:

For the Biscuit

100g butter

60g caster sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla paste

160g white spelt flour

Plus, a little extra sugar and flour for stamp dusting, if using.

For the Jam

200g ripe dark flesh plums, chopped

100g raspberries

100g apple, peeled and chopped

50g light brown sugar

Method

Start by creaming your butter and sugar together for 3-5 minutes. I use a stand mixer for this, but you can also use a handheld electric whisk.

Once slightly lighter and fluffy, add your egg yolk and vanilla paste. Mix until combined.

Sift your flour and add this to the mixture, either bring together in your mixer on a low setting, or with a wooden spoon and your hands. Be careful not to overwork the dough.

Shape it into a disc and wrap in cling film. Place in the fridge for about an hour to firm up.

The Jam

While your dough is resting, place all the fruit in a saucepan with a splash of water and bubble it on a medium/high heat for 5-10 minutes.

Once the fruit is soft, place it in a blender and pulse until liquid.

Pass it all through a fine mesh sieve, scraping with a wooden spoon to ensure all the juice gets through. Discard the sad dry paste left in your sieve.

Sprinkle over the sugar and mix in. Place back on a medium high heat and let it bubble for around 10-15 minutes until very thick. You should be able to run a wooden spoon through it and the jam will stay in place. Take off the heat and allow to cool and set.

Back to the Biscuits

Once your dough is firm, place between two piece of parchment paper and roll to 5mm thick. If the dough becomes sticky, pop it back in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up.

Line two trays with baking paper or silicone mats and, if using a stamp, mix together 1/2 a tsp of flour and caster sugar. Dust your stamp to ensure it’s well coated. You will need to re dust after every time you stamp.

Now, using your cookie cutter or stamp, stamp out your biscuits and place on your trays. If using a stamp, on half of your biscuits, press hard to ensure you get a good imprint before cutting out a little heart or circle shape in the middle.

Place back in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up. Preheat your oven to 145°C/293°F.

Once firm, place them in the oven for 20 minutes, until golden.

Leave them to cool on the tray before filling with a little jam in the centre and sandwiching together. You will have jam leftover, which works well in porridge, on toast, or as a filling for this lighter lemon olive oil sponge.

The biscuits will keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Although they will soften over time.

Until next time…

1. According to Fox’s Burton’s Companies

2. Taken from Lizzie Collingham’s The Biscuit: A history of a very British indulgence, p. 238

3. According to Amber Rose, Love Bake Nourish, Healthier Cakes, Bakes and Puddings. P. 104