makes
8
prep
15 minutes
cook
10 minutes
difficulty
Easy
makes
8
serves
preparation
15
minutes
cooking
10
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
You can choose to fill these with jam, like a thumbprint cookie, by pressing the back of a measuring teaspoon into the just-baked dough, or you can leave them to cool and sandwich them with jam instead. (If you want to swap the jam for chocolate spread, I’m happy to look the other way, provided you let me try one.)
Ingredients
- 80 g (2¾ oz) peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, see Note)
- 80 g (2¾ oz) golden syrup
- Large pinch of salt
- 25 g (¾ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour or gluten-free plain (all-purpose) flour + a pinch of xanthan gum
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 75 g (2⅔ oz) jam (jelly or preserve) of your choice (such as strawberry, raspberry, etc)
Makes 16 cookies or 8 sandwiches
Cooling time: 10 minutes.
Instructions
- Set the oven to 150°C fan (325°F/gas 3) and line a flat baking sheet with baking paper.
- To a medium bowl, add the peanut butter, golden syrup and salt and mix with a spoon or a rigid spatula until well blended.
- Add the flour and baking powder, then stir in until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated. If using gluten-free flour, combine the flour, xanthan gum and baking powder before adding.
- Wet your hands, then scoop up 10 g (⅓ oz) of the dough at a time. Lightly roll into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet. If you prefer, you can spoon teaspoons of dough onto the sheet. Leave space in between each cookie to allow for their slight spread.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 8–10 minutes or until the cookies have puffed, their surfaces are lightly crazed with tiny cracks and they have turned a very pale golden colour. Don’t leave them to colour more than that or they won’t be softly chewy when cooled.
- To make filled cookies, gently press the back of a ½ teaspoon measure into the soft dough to make an indentation in each one. Fill the indentations with a small blob of jam. Leave to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make sandwiches, do not make any indentations in the cookies; leave them to cool on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Spread a little jam (or chocolate spread) on the flat underside of one cookie, then sandwich together with a second cookie.
Note
You can make these with any type of peanut butter: whole nut, with or without added sugar, with or without added oil, etc. Cookies made with a peanut butter that has added oil may spread slightly further than those without, but overall there’s very little difference in the results, so just use whatever you have in the cupboard.
Recipe and image from Bake Your Sweet Time by Tat Effby, photography by Mowie Kay. (Murdoch Books RRP $45)
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
