Fans of peanut-butter- and-jam sandwiches will love this biscuity twist on the all-American classic. Give the flowers and chocs a miss and instead make a batch of these irresistible biccies for someone you love.
MAKES ABOUT 30 DODGERS
150g butter, softened
100g shop-bought smooth peanut butter
125g caster sugar
25g light muscovado sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
large pinch salt
265g plain white flour, plus extra for dusting
100g of your favourite jam
1 Cream together the butter and peanut butter for 1 minute. You can use either a medium bowl and a wooden spoon, or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add both sugars and beat for a further 2 mins until fluffy. Add the egg yolk, vanilla and salt and beat until combined, then sift over the flour and mix to form a soft dough. Knead a couple of times until smooth.
2 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160/350F. Line two baking trays with baking parchment.
3 On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough to a thickness of 3–4mm. The dough will be quite fragile – if it breaks apart, gently press the crumbly edges back towards the centre, then carefully continue to roll.
4 Cut out rounds of dough using a 5cm biscuit cutter. Using a heart-shaped stamp, or another small cutter of your choice, cut a hole from the middle of half of the biscuits. Place all the biscuit rounds on the prepared baking trays.
5 Bake for 8–12 mins until lightly golden. Keep a close eye on them – these biscuits can turn from golden to burnt very quickly.
6 Remove from the oven, leave to cool on the trays for 5 mins, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7 When the biscuits are cool, spread a scant tsp of jam on the underside of the whole biscuits. Top each one with a cut-out heart biscuit and press down lightly. The biscuits will keep in an airtight container for 2 days.
Recipe from Homemade Memories by Kate Doran (Orion Publishing)
This recipe was first published in issue 44 of The Simple Things.
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