Newfoundland Jam-Jams


Jam-Jams are a favourite Newfoundland cookie, both homemade and commercially produced.  You can find them in almost any bakery, especially around Christmas time, and they are one of the staples of  Purity Factories, Ltd, a cookie and biscuit company based in St. John's.  

Homemade Jam-Jams are molasses cookies sandwiched together with jam.  Raspberry jam is my favourite but any favourite jam will make a good filling for these little jewels of the cookie jar. 

This cookie recipe is as old as they come.  In the original recipe  the flour measurement is left up to your discretion, reading, "Flour to make a medium stiff dough." but I've done some measuring to make the recipe a little more accurate when making these cookies.  This is a very forgiving dough.  If too soft, add a little flour.  If too stiff, add a few drops of water.  And because this particular dough is egg-free it's perfect for little bakers in the kitchen.  (Some Jam-Jam recipes do require an egg, but not this one.)

When Benjamin, my grandson, was about two and a half years old I was making these Jam-Jams at his house.  He had on his little apron and was helping Nanny.  I gave him a small piece of dough to roll out with his little rolling pin but he was happier eating his cookie dough than rolling it.  Not many of his cookies made it to the oven.  I was busy rolling out another piece of dough and when I turned around he had eaten several of my raw cookies that were waiting to be baked.  What could I say?  Nothing.  I just gave him a hug and kiss and gave him another little piece of dough. 

To make the cookies the dough has to be rolled out and cut with a round cookie cutter.  Some people make their Jam-Jams from 2 plain round cookies and some like to put a hole in the middle of the top cookie, like a doughnut shape.  I'm of the latter group and dutifully cut little holes out of half the cookies before baking.  Sometimes I even make them flower shaped if I'm feeling particularly decorative.

When cooled the newly baked cookies are quite crisp but after over-nighting, sandwiched with jam, in an airtight container they soften up to the correct texture of a Jam-Jam.  Of course, I've been known to eat a Jam-Jam within minutes of being sandwiched together with jam and have had no undue harm come to my person (except my waist-line!).

Just a little note:  The recipe can be made with vegan margarine for a very nice vegan cookie.

Jam-Jams
1 cup butter
¾ cup sugar
½ cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 4 tablespoons of hot tap water
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
3½-3¾ cups flour, enough to make a medium stiff dough

About 1½ cups of favourite jam.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you have a very hot oven decrease the temperature to 375 degrees.  The cookie sheets do not have to be greased but may be lined with parchment paper, if desired.

Cream butter, sugar, molasses and vanilla together. Add the dissolved baking soda and mix well.  Add flour, cinnamon and salt and mix until a stiff but not dry dough is formed.  It should roll easily.  Roll out on floured board.  Cut in desired shape.  Bake in oven about 5 minutes being careful not to burn cookies as molasses burns easily.

Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before removing the cookies from the pan.  While still warm sandwich two cookies together with about 1 teaspoon of  favourite jam.

Let cookies cool and store in an air tight container at least overnight before eating.  The cookies will soften overnight and become the correct consistency for a Jam-Jam.

Makes 3-4 dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookie cutter.  I used a 2¼-inch biscuit cutter.



 
Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.  I threw in the spices with the sugar instead of the flour.  That won't make much difference to the cookie.  Dissolve the baking soda in hot tap water and add to the mixture.  Don't forget the vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients to make a medium stiff dough. 

You should be able to squeeze the dough together without it crumbling between your fingers.  It should be medium stiff--not sticky, but not crumbly, either. 

Roll the dough out to about ⅛ - ¼-inch thick.  I like a thinner cookie so I tend to roll them thin.  Remember you will be eventually eating two of the cookies sandwiched together with jam.  You can also make these cookies as small or large as you like.  I used a 2¼-inch biscuit cutter to make my cookies. 


If you want a peek-a-boo hole in the top cookie make sure you bake equal amounts.  Cut the holes from the middle of the cookie before baking.  Of course, you don't have to cut out the holes.  They taste just as good without. 

Raspberry jam is my favourite filling in Jam-Jams.  But any favourite jam will be delicious. 

As soon as the cookies are cool enough to handle turn them over and spread the bottoms with about a teaspoon of jam.  Don't spread the jam to the edge as it will spread out when the second cookies is laid on top.

Top with the second cookie and gently press down.  Store the cookies in an air-tight container for several hours--overnight will be perfect to soften the cookies.

You don't have to stick with round cookie cutters.  This flower shaped cookie looks very appealing. 


Where's the milk?  You've gotta have a tall glass of milk with Jam-Jams!  
(OK, OK...YOU can have a cup of tea, instead, if you wish.)


Soft and jammy--Newfoundland Jam-Jams.

Comments

  1. Lois Gill! Love 'em! Great recipe!

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  2. Could you roll them into a log and slice them rather than rolling them and using a cookie cutter?

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    1. Yes, I think that would work. Make sure the roll of dough is really cold before you cut the slices. If you do that, let me know how they turned out.

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  3. They turned out awesome! I chilled them for several hours and sliced and baked them at 375 for 5 mins and they turned out perfectly! Saves rolling lol. Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe Lois!

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    1. So glad they turned out great. Rolling and cutting can be so tedious!

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  4. Date filling tastes great in these too. My favourte is raspberry jam mixed with some date filling and some chopped, toasted pecans.

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  5. I'd never thought to use date filling but that would be delicious.

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  6. They turned out awesome! Thanks for the great recipe!

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  7. You're welcome. So happy they were a success!

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  8. These sound and look great. My Central Ontario family has for generations made molasses jam cookies at Christmas time. Our recipe is similar , but calls for brown sugar and black - strap molasses. The cookies are much darker than yours. We haven't made the little hole in our. I'll try that next time. And, I'll try the suggestion of making a log and cutting thin slices.
    Lois Moon

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    1. Glad you liked the suggestions. There are many variations and recipes for Jam Jams in Newfoundland. Some, like your family's recipe, are darker and some are lighter. The most important thing is that they all taste great.

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  9. Hi There.. I have been looking for a long long time fot the perfect Jam Jam recipe.. I do believe that I have found it :) YAY!! I have a couple questions before i attempt to jump right in and start.. Do I need to use a hand mixer for the first part when combining butter, sugar, molasses and vanilla or can it be done by hand? Also do you recommend baking a small number at a time as to give each one the attention they need to put together or can I fill whole pan with cookies and go from there?? Thank you so so much in advance :)

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    1. You may mix these by hand if you do not have a mixer. Just apply a bit of "elbow grease" when creaming the butter and sugar and they should be fine. As for baking the cookies I do one whole pan at a time and use them for the bottoms. I put the jam on them when they are still warm. The next pan I bake will be the tops. When they come out of the oven I cover the jammy bottoms. This is a very forgiving recipe. I hope you are successful in your baking.

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    2. Hello again.. Finally I am down to getting into making these Jam Jams.. Christmas is around the corner and I have room in my freezer..lol.. Forgot to ask before.. but what gadget do you use to make the hole in the top of your cookies? Please and thank you :)

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    3. Any small round bottle cap should work. Something like the top of a vanilla bottle. Or if you have icing tips for piping icing the ends of those should work. I used an orange juicer that you stick into an orange and the juice is supposed to flow out of the spout. That didn't work for the juice but it made a dandy thing to make the holes with.

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    4. Thank you so much for that bit of awesome info.. I made my first ever jam jams and OMG Awesome :) Thank you so much for the recipe.. now what about freezing these babies? what do you suggest? please and thank you

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    5. oops sorry to bug yet again!! Oops.. hit Publish then remembered i'm not done!! If in a container how long will they last on counter and or in the fridge? thanks again :) Diana

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    6. Hi again. So glad your Jam Jams were a success! They freeze beautifully. I put a piece of parchment paper between the layers so they don't stick together. And they keep on the counter about 2 weeks. Hope this helps.

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  10. They didn’t make it to Christmas! My family is requesting another batch! Thanks for the recipe.

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    1. You're going to have to hide this new batch until Christmas day, lol.

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  11. OMG, made this yesterday afternoon during our snow storm. So easy to make and tastes just like home. Of the 4 doz I made there are only 3 left today :D My son, a foods teacher, plans to use this recipe with his students. Thank you for bringing alive my memories of growing up in Newfoundland.

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  12. Hey! It's stormy outside so I decided to make a new cookie! They turned out delish!!! Thanks for the recipe! Rather than roll out dough, I made small 1 inch balls and put them on cookie pan, squished them lightly between 2 pieces of parchment paper with a flat bottom glass, removed the top piece of parchment and cut out holes in half of the cookies. You can adjust the thickness as you like!!! Way easier than rolling out!!! Way cleaner too!!! The family are giving this recipe a big thumbs up!!!!

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    1. Glad you liked them and made them your way. :)

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  13. est ce que ce sont des biscuits moelleux
    ou des biscuit secs merci

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    1. The cookies are crisp when first baked but will soften as they are stored. They are supposed to soften as Jam Jams are a soft cookie.

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  14. i have such a hard time making those my dough keeps falling apart and cant roll them i try adding a little bit of water and a little bit flour nothing worked what am i doing wrong

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    1. I'm so sorry you are having such a hard time making these cookies. I'm guessing that you are getting too much flour in the mix. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup instead of scooping it from the bag and level off with a knife or icing spatula. If the dough is not firm enough refrigerate it for an hour before rolling out. If the dough is too firm add a tablespoon or two of water. Try making a softer dough with 3 cups of flour and see how that works out.

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