Old Fashioned Butter Biscuits

Jam Drops and White Chocolate Chip biscuits

Makes about 70 biscuits, so luckily these can be frozen to eat later.  This recipe is to use with a Cookie Press to make 'Spritz Cookies' or 'Pressed Cookies'.  But, the cookie press I was using (an Op Shop find for $3) was not up to the gruelling punishment I dished out.  So now I just roll those bikkies by the teaspoon full.  This recipe is for the basic butter biscuit,  which is yummy all by itself.  But you can make little changes as well,  which I'll list as I try them.

You do not need to use baking paper or grease the tray as there is so much butter in the recipe. I use non-stick and regular aluminium trays without problem.

Ingredients:

• 3.5 cups (440g) Plain Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1.5 cups (340g) Butter, softened
• 1 cup (220g) White Sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tabs Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method:

• In TMX, use butterfly to cream Butter and Sugar together,  speed 4, until light and fluffy (about 1 minute +)
• Add Egg, Vanilla and Milk and beat again until well combined.
• Remove butterfly
• Combine Flour and Baking Powder in separate bowl
• Turn TMX onto Speed 3-4 with the Measuring Cup out and gradually add the Flour mixture until it's all well combined.  (Depending on the day, room temp,  sometimes I need to do this in another, larger bowl with a spatula.)
• Place biscuit mixture into another bowl so you don't scrape the TMX bowl with the spoon
• Using a teaspoon or dessert spoon, shape mixture into balls that are smaller than golf balls and larger than Maltesers (Does that make sense???)
• Place onto baking tray, allowing space for spreading
• Cook in Moderate oven for about 15-20 minutes
• Once cooked, leave on the tray for 2 minutes to cool slightly and then place onto a cooling rack, using a spatula or similar
• Doing it too early will bend and break the biscuits and leaving them too long will allow them to stick to the tray.  I found when I did this, I put them back in the oven for about 1 minute which warmed them enough to slide off the tray.

JAM DROPS

Once you have put the balls of mixture onto the trays, make an indentation in the top with the handle of a wooden spoon, dipped in flour.  You can make this deepish, just be careful not to go through or break it sideways.  Using the pointiest teaspoon you have,  get a tiny bit of Pear Jam and fill the indentations to the top.  When you bake these, these will spread out and you'll have a lovely round of jam in the middle.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP

Before creaming the butter, (or after removing mixture from TMX bowl) chop a handful or two of White Chocolate buttons in the TMX (Speed 6-7). Make this as rough or fine as you'd like.  Add this after the flour and combine well.

CARAMEL

Replace the white sugar with about 200g of Brown Sugar and proceed as usual.

CINNAMON**

This is strictly for the NON-Failsafers in the household.  Combine some Cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and sprinkle on top of the biscuits after they've cooked about 5 minutes, and put back into the oven.

** Very High Salicylates