Jammy Devils

This month’s MiniMoFo theme is “Literary Inspiration”. If you know my reading habits, you’ll know I am a huge Discworld fan. I’ve even used the series in a previous VeganMoFo post! If you’ve not read Discworld – what are you waiting for? Terry Pratchett’s writing is astounding in its ability to be both fun and serious at the same time, to involve so much detail and yet be enjoyable to read, and to ultimately make you feel at home in his world.

Ankh-Morpork, the central city in the Discworld books, may remind you slightly of London, or perhaps some other city in which you grew up, just with magic and trolls. This recipe hails from there, adapted from Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook (yes, there is a Discworld cookbook) where it is described as “hot, sweet, and cheap. Just the thing for a snack in the middle of a night shift”. Now, I don’t know about night shifts – but I do know these are great for that warm, cosy feeling you get as the nights are drawing in and winter is looming in the background. There’s something about jammy desserts that gives off a relaxing vibe.

Now, I used a few different sorts of jam for these cookies, because I always have jam around and I thought it’d be fun to try several flavours, but you could just use one flavour if you like. I love how these look like kind of jewels on the plate!

One thing to be aware of when making these biscuits is – don’t put too much jam on them! You want enough that you can taste it, but if you put a giant dollop on, then it’ll pour over the edge of the biscuit and burn in the oven – and burnt jam is not very nice. Just make a little dip in the middle of the biscuit, and fill that with jam, and then you’ll have lovely not-burnt biscuits!

• Servings: 20 biscuits
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Ingredients

• 150g vegan butter
• 120g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in the US)
• 250g plain flour
• 2-3 tbsp vegan milk
• approx 4-5 tbsp jam

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180C/355F/Gas Mark 4
1. Begin by creaming the butter and sugar together until smooth and well mixed.
2. Stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Sift in the flour and cornflour and mix to form a soft dough, adding the milk a tablespoon at a time if necessary.
4. Place tablespoon sized balls of dough on a lined baking tray, evenly spaced.
5. Using your finger, or the back of a small spoon, make an indentation in the middle of each biscuit.
6. Add a small amount of jam to each divot – not so much that it overflows, just enough to fill the dip.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are turning golden brown.
8. Allow to cool on the baking tray.