The original recipe calls for Apricot jam, but I used Strawberry jam instead
I have no idea who ‘Ouma Ellen’ is, but I can tell you that the word ‘Ouma’ means ‘Granny’ in the South African language of Afrikaans. So, this is ‘Granny Ellen’s’ recipe and it comes from one of my favourite South African cook books ‘Cook and Enjoy It’ by S.J.A. de Villiers.
I have adapted this recipe slightly – some of the measurements were in cups, some in litres/ml’s and some in grams – quite confusing, so I have adjusted them so that they are all the same. The original recipe also calls for Apricot jam but I used Strawberry jam for mine, and I adjusted the recipe as the original recipe yielded 130 to 140 biscuits (cookies) – oh my word, Granny Ellen must’ve been baking biscuits for the entire ‘dorp’ or village, at that rate !
Anyway, thanks to Granny Ellen, here is the recipe -:
Ouma Ellen’s Strawberry Jam Biscuits
*note – I used a 300 ml cup to measure ingredients for this recipe (that’s around 11 fluid ounces).
2 cups Flour
Pinch of Salt
½ cup Margarine (or Butter)
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
¼ cup Strawberry Jam
¼ cup Sugar
Sift the flour & salt together. Rub the margarine (or butter) in with your fingertips. Mix the jam and bicarbonate of soda together (it will go light & foamy) and add to the flour/salt mix, then add the sugar. Blend everything together and knead until smooth. Roll out the dough (about 6 mm thick) and cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter and then cut out a small round in the centre of each biscuit. Place on greased baking trays and bake for 15 minutes at Gas Mark 5/190’C/375’F.
Makes around 30 biscuits.
I have adapted this recipe slightly – some of the measurements were in cups, some in litres/ml’s and some in grams – quite confusing, so I have adjusted them so that they are all the same. The original recipe also calls for Apricot jam but I used Strawberry jam for mine, and I adjusted the recipe as the original recipe yielded 130 to 140 biscuits (cookies) – oh my word, Granny Ellen must’ve been baking biscuits for the entire ‘dorp’ or village, at that rate !
Anyway, thanks to Granny Ellen, here is the recipe -:
Ouma Ellen’s Strawberry Jam Biscuits
*note – I used a 300 ml cup to measure ingredients for this recipe (that’s around 11 fluid ounces).
2 cups Flour
Pinch of Salt
½ cup Margarine (or Butter)
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
¼ cup Strawberry Jam
¼ cup Sugar
Sift the flour & salt together. Rub the margarine (or butter) in with your fingertips. Mix the jam and bicarbonate of soda together (it will go light & foamy) and add to the flour/salt mix, then add the sugar. Blend everything together and knead until smooth. Roll out the dough (about 6 mm thick) and cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter and then cut out a small round in the centre of each biscuit. Place on greased baking trays and bake for 15 minutes at Gas Mark 5/190’C/375’F.
Makes around 30 biscuits.
