London, 31st January 2013 – Oranges are in season and I love to eat them cut into wedges but I have also been inspired to use them in cooking.
After a few failures (a fish too dry, an inedible cake and some very hard biscuits) I finally cooked a delicious recipe: Jam Thumbprint Orange Biscuits. This recipe was adapted from a biscuit recipe published in The Guardian by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall in January 2011.
When I find a good recipe in a magazine, I cut it out and keep it in my recipe scrapbook. Ever since I started reading recipes, my scrapbook has become full of piece of papers, printed recipes and quick annotations which I promise myself to transcribe one day…
I halved the original recipe and obtained 16 biscuits. I also modified the recipe by omitting the salt and vanilla extract and using orange zest in place of lemon zest. I also sprinkled the biscuits with icing sugar.
The biscuits just out of the oven looked shapeless and were all attached, I waited until they were cool and firm, then I removed them with a knife, trying to keep their shape.
These biscuits are crumbly, buttery and pleasantly sweet with an aroma of orange. They remind me of the Italian Pasticcini Mignon (miniature pastries) which together with Pastarelle (regular sized pastries) are traditional sweet treats after a Sunday lunch.
I'm entering this into the January One Ingredient Challenge. This is a monthly blogging event that is hosted by Franglais Kitchen and How to cook good food. The ingredient for this month is Oranges and is hosted by Laura at How to cook good food.
I also submit this recipe into January Simple and in Season over at Fabulicious Food.
Finally, I enter this into Bookmarked Recipes over at Tinned Tomatoes
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RECIPE WITH STEP BY STEP PICTURES
JAM THUMBPRINT ORANGE BISCUITS
Adapted from Jam thumbprint biscuits
byHugh Fearnley Whittingstall
SERVES 16, PREP 15 MIN CHILL 30 MIN, COOK 15 MIN
Ingredients:
- 112 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 112 g caster sugar
- Grated zest from ½ unwaxed organic orange
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp milk
- 140 g plain flour, sifted
- orange jam or Seville orange marmalade (I used homemade yellow plum jam)
- icing sugar
Method:
In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until combined.
Add the orange zest, yolk and milk to the bowl and beat until mixed.
Add the flour and mix the dough together gently but quickly with your hands.
Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge to chill at least for 30 minutes; meanwhile heat the oven to 180° (fan-assisted) and line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
Flour the work surface and roll the chilled dough into balls about 2.5 cm in diameter; then push into each dough ball with your thumb to make a well.
Place the biscuits dough on the lined tray.
Fill the wells with about ½ teaspoon of jam.
Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until the edges and the bottoms are slightly golden.
Leave to cool on the tray to firm up, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling (if they are slightly attached like mine, use a knife and gently separate them).
Sprinkle with icing sugar when completely cool.
PRINT THIS RECIPE
Click the picture for a printable version of Jam Thumbprint Orange Biscuits recipe!
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I have always love jam cookies. These look wonderful.
Thank you Angie, the orange flavour is very popular here in the UK!
Quanto sono buoni!!!!!! Uno tira l’altro!! Amo i biscotti friabili!!!
Un bacio grande!!!!!
E questi sono FRIABILISSIMI cara Lori! Anzi sono rimasta sorpresa come non si spezzino e rimangano invece intatti e belli, conservati nel barattolo ermetico. Ma poi quando vengono fuori da barattolo (e vengono fuori spesso!!) e si mangiano …si sciolgono in bocca!
Fab cookies! They look utterly lush! I bet my guys would wolf them down in one go.
Thank you Galina and welcome to my blog!
I very rarely use oranges in cooking and baking but I like how creative you have been with this recipe. I’m sure this recipe is great to do with children as it is so interactive.
Love the idea of you keeping the scrapbook – good way of looking back on all those tried and tested recipes
Dear Jacqueline I rarely use oranges in cooking and baking too…I bought a bag of organic, unwaxed oranges and dreamed of making jams and new amazing Mediterranean dishes. Instead I made a very DRY fish, an INEDIBLE cake and some very HARD biscuits. I did not even attempt to make jam… I was happy to find this recipe and finally produce something really GOOD with my very EXPENSIVE oranges…
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These sound delicious, especially as you say they remind you of Italian pastries. Last time I tried making thumbprint biscuits, I decided they looked so pretty with the prints, I couldn’t bear to add the filling – oops!
I have recipes everywhere and the more I try to organise them the messier they seem to get. Trying to find one is near impossible.
These look very rustic. I save my recipes on my fridge using magnets
I could definitely eat these cookies my friend, healthy cause of oranges
Cheers
CCU
the oranges are perfect to enhance the flavour of these little BISCUITS/PASTICCINI.
Hi Rita,
Che meraviglia! I love this kind of cookie – I can devour them by the dozen. And the shot of the handwritten recipes and photo clippings is sheer genius. Bravissima, amica. I am so enjoying your site and am very glad to have found it.
Thank you Adri! I try to organize my recipes but at the moment I cannot find a proper system. At the moment a messy scrapbook works well (at least I’ve got all the recipes in one place!). Ciao e grazie ancora
I love the name of these and they look great.
I agree Caroline, this is a very nice name!
These look lovely Rita. I reckon my daughter would love using her thumbs to make the indents as much as she likes sticking her fingers into focaccia! A great use for home-made jam too. On my list for weekend baking.
Pushing thumbs to make small wells is a GREAT FUN. I’m sure your daughter would enjoy it! My boys, instead, are very energetic and the biscuit dough is very delicate…
These biscuits look delicious. Love the orange flavour.
Thank you, Michelle.
What a good idea for a biscuit. I do love HFW and I think you have made some good adaptations to the recipe. I think orange as a flavour works so well in both sweet and savoury dishes. Your thumbprint biscuits are perfect for adults and children alike.
I could use my first ever home made Seville orange marmalade in them too.
Thanks for entering One Ingredient! xx
Thank you Laura! I’ve tried a few sweet recipes using fresh oranges and this is my favourite because the orange zest give it a nicely fresh, but not overpowering orange flavour. You are right: my kids like these biscuits and my husband likes them too…
Che buoni!! Mi fanno una gola pazzesca. Fai dei tutorial veramente chiari e piacevoli da seguire. Lo sai ho bevuto il caffe’ da Leila l’altro giorno… un giorno potremmo incontrarci tutte e tre per un buon caffe’ e quattro chiacchiere! Un abbraccio X
Eh si, mi ha scritto la Laila!! Che strana coincidenza, comunque ora che arriva il bel tempo dovremmo organizzare una gita. Grazie Alida
Rita.. si vede dalla foto quanto devono esser buoni!!!!! bacioni cara
Grazie Claudia! Sei troppo gentile: guardando la foto sembrano buoni …ma brutti (Mi chiedo come Hugh, il cuoco da cui ho preso la ricetta, e’ riuscito a dargli una forma perfetta!)
Devono essere davvero deliziosi, Rita! Questo tipo di biscotto mi fa letteralmente impazzire! Fa tanto ‘abbraccio’, con questo gelo! Un bacione e complimenti!!
Grazie Ely! Devo dire che sono sorpresa dalla bonta’ di questo biscotto: ogni volta che li vedo uscire dal forno mi scoraggio, ma poi li assaggio e MERAVIGLIA sono un vero ‘abbraccio’ di bonta’…e calorie!