We bake and sell them all year round but at Christmas time they come out in most German households: jam sandwich biscuits or Spitzbuben how we call them in Germany.
They are a big hit at our markets, especially with children. The great thing is that they are so versatile. Not only can you adapt the shape and design of the biscuit, you can also use different varieties of jams to spice things up and try out new flavours. Traditionally we use red currant jelly as a tangy contrast to the sweet biscuit. If you are a lover of strawberry, raspberry or apricot, there is no reason why you can’t use those. Or try chocolate as a filling like the Italians do, or dulce the leche, like the Argentinians do! The options are endless!
Here is the basic recipe for lovely Spitzbuben.
Ingredients for about 20 biscuits
300 g flour
100 g ground almonds
150 g icing sugar
a pinch of salt
1 table spoon of vanilla sugar
1 tea spoon of lemon peel (from organic fresh lemons)
200 g butter
1 egg
flour for dusting
200 g jam or jelly
optional: icing sugar for dusting
Method
Mix all ingredients with the hand mixer (using the dough hooks) or by hand until you have a smooth dough ball. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 160 degrees Celsius on fan.
Dust your work surface with flour. Roll the dough and cut out biscuits in the shape or design of your choice. You’ll need equal numbers of biscuits with and without a hole on the middle (use an apple corer for this or a special little cookie or fondant cutter).
Put biscuits on a baking tray lined with greaseproof baking parchment. Allow a bit of space for them to grow.
Bake biscuits for 8 – 10 minutes, they shouldn’t change colour too much. Transfer them to a cooling rack.
Heat some jam/jelly in a pan adding lemon juice or peel to taste.
Spread about a teaspoon of jam/jelly onto the biscuit without the hole and sandwich it together with a biscuit that has a hole.
Let the jam set and dust with icing sugar (optional).
They keep for up to 10 weeks if stored in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
If you liked this post and are getting crafty with this recipe then please show us your creations via Twitter, Instagram and/or Facebook use the hashtag #bloombakers and we will find it!
