Nutella & Jam Christmas Biscuits

Before I get you all kinds of excited about the deliciousness you see here, I will warn you, this recipe is not the most FODMAP-friendly recipe going around, but do not let this stop you from baking and devouring the biscuits… Firstly, this is a Nonna C recipe, so you know they’ll be good. Secondly, I’ve tweaked the recipe to use spelt flour and lactose free dairy products so it is in fact much more friendly. Thirdly, again it’s Nonna’s recipe (halved mind you, she uses 8 cups of flour!) so you’ll get heaps of biscuits that you can share with special people or you can keep them all to yourself – just one or two a day until Christmas is definitely low FODMAP!

Baking biscuits taught to me by Nonna is one tradition I don’t think I will ever let go of. No matter how busy I am at this time of year or how quickly the December days fly by, I can never resist. I always manage, usually in a team effort with Mum, to whip up one of the many yummy traditional biscuits we have learnt along the years. In the good old days, this type of Christmas time baking would take up a whole day of my school holidays, but boy was it worth it. At the time I may have complained a bit (or a lot) about the early mornings, but now I understand the need to work in a cool room – sticky dough is no fun! So it goes without saying that these biscuits bring back pretty fond memories of eating Nonna’s biscuits all Summer long whilst holidaying in Cape Woolamai. Not to mention, the amazing smell that fills the house as tray after tray are baked is to die for.

After a full on few months of renovations and only being in our new home for 1 week, I decided to ‘christen’ my kitchen and beloved marble bench top by baking these Nutella and Jam Biscuits. It was pretty special to be baking a recipe I learnt many years ago from Nonna C, have baked many times with Mum, have eaten every year at Christmas time and was now making in my very own home. They may look much more ‘rustic’ than Nonna’s, but hey, they got the tick of approval from the boss so I’m happy :)

Nutella & Jam Christmas Biscuits
Makes ~60 biscuits

4 cups, plus extra for dusting, white spelt flour (sieved & organic for low FODMAP)
4 tsp baking powder
250g cream cheese, cubed (lactose free if required)
150ml full cream (lactose free if required)
65g butter, cubed

Filling
Nutella
Jam

Take the cream cheese, cream and butter out of the fridge to bring to room temperature. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl (or food processor) and use both hands to massage ingredients together until it roughly resembles breadcrumbs. This will take quite a bit of time if doing by hand. Knead until the ingredients start to come together and pour on to a floured surface and continue kneading until you form a smooth dough.

Preheat oven to 180C and line 3 trays with baking paper – it’s ok if you only 1 or 2 trays, you will just have to bake them in batches.

Roll the dough out 1/4 cm thick. Use a round plate about 15cm wide as your stencil to cut circles out of the dough, then cut the circle into 4 triangles. Place a small dollop of nutella or jam on the base of each triangle and roll from the base to form your biscuit. Continue until all the dough is finished. Place biscuits on the lined tray as you make them, then bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until they begin to turn golden.

Sprinkle with icing sugar if you wish and enjoy!

low gluten | fructose friendly | low lactose