This recipe for custard creams biscuits produces a bake that is buttery, crunchy, crumbly and has an authentic taste of custard about it. These biscuits come filled with a rich custard flavoured buttercream. Jam is optional, though highly recommended.
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This week I am sharing with you one of my household’s favourites – my recipe for custard creams. These are fun to make and a joy to eat. I made them last week with my 2 little girls during their half-term break. I love school holidays… and these biscuits.
Though not traditional, my custard creams biscuits do include a dab of jam in the centre. Trust me, it makes a great addition to these rich, melt in the mouth biscuits. I feel it’s only fair to warn you that one biscuit is never enough though – they are dangerously addictive.
We first made these custard creams biscuits about 3 years ago, back in the days when my youngest daughter was determined to do everything ‘all by myself’ – even though she was only 2. My older daughter (then 5) would just about fall off her chair laughing at the huge mess created by these attempts.
Happy days.
What’s the Difference Between Custard Creams & Jamie Dodgers?
The custard cream is a sandwich biscuit originating in England in the early 1900s. It is, essentially, two flat biscuit layers sandwiched together with a custard flavoured cream filling. Mass-produced custard creams have a distinctive baroque design with the words custard cream stamped onto them.
Jammie Dodgers are another hugely popular British sandwich biscuit. This time, however, 2 layers of shortbread biscuit is sandwiched together with raspberry jam.
Why do I mention both of these biscuits in this recipe for custard creams? Well, because I’ve taken the best of both worlds and combined the two.
- I’ve never understood why Jammie Dodgers didn’t include a creamy centre alongside the jam – it was surely an oversight – yes?
- Likewise, I’ve always missed a fruity burst of flavour in my custard creams
I like to think of this version as the ultimate Jammie Dodger (let’s be honest, not adding cream to the original Jammie Dodger was a bit ridiculous).
Of course, you can keep your custard creams biscuits jam-free if you are feeling traditional. I really won’t judge.
Is homemade better?
Without a doubt, these homemade custard creams surpass the factory produced ones by miles. They really are:
- buttery
- crunchy
- crumbly
They also have an authentic taste of custard about them and a tempting hint of yellow in their appearance.
And let’s not forget that jam!
What Ingredients do I need?
My recipe for custard creams is anything but traditional. I’ve used a variety of luxury ingredients to create a bake that is out of this world.
- This bake is rich in butter, giving a wonderful melt on the mouth texture to the final bake
- It also includes ground almonds to boost both flavour and structure
- Finally, unlike the traditional store-bought version, I’ve used custard powder to put the flavour directly into the biscuit dough and not just the creamy centre
Added to these ingredients are more typical items such as caster sugar, flour, cornflour and egg. The result is a cookie like no other.
Similarly, I’ve gone all-out on the cream centre too. Just 4 ingredients are involved – butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract and custard powder. Again, it’s butter-rich and all the better for it – just look at the quantity of butter compared to the sugar. It’s not too sweet and gives you a second hit of that fantastic custard flavour. Just superb.
How to Make these Sandwich Cookies
A fine and crumbly textured biscuit such as these requires slightly more attention to detail compared to a typical cookie recipe. Follow my custard creams recipe carefully and your reward will be a generous pile of mouthwatering cookies to share.
Make the Biscuits
- Sieve the sugar, cornflour, plain flour, custard powder, salt and ground almonds into a large mixing bowl
- Cut the butter into cubes, add to the dry ingredients and rub in using your fingertips, until the mixture looks like sand or breadcrumbs.
- Make a well in the centre and pour in a beaten egg
- Using a blunt knife, pull it through the egg mix about 20 times, so that it starts to mix into the dry ingredients. Give the bowl a quarter turn and slash the knife another 20 times, then use your hands to gently bind the rest of the ingredients together into a ball
- Tip out and knead gently on the worktop until the dough is smooth. Flatten slightly, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 5mm (1/4 inch) thick. Cut out pairs of biscuits using cutters around 6-7cm/ 21/2 inch diameter
- Leftover dough can be re-rolled for further cutting
- If you are cutting out the centre of the biscuits, remember to do this on half of them only – the bottom of each pair should be whole, only the tops should have the cut-out
- Preheat the oven and line a few baking sheets with baking parchment
- Put the biscuits onto the prepared baking sheets, cover loosely with clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes, then bake for 20-25 minutes until the biscuits are beginning to brown
Top Tip: Don’t be tempted to skip the chilling times. This dough is very soft and will be difficult to roll out if it is too warm. Likewise, the final chill helps ensure the biscuit keeps it’s shape well in the oven.
Make the filling & Assemble the Biscuits:
- Put the butter and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl, then sieve the icing sugar and custard powder into the bowl
- Using electric beaters cream the ingredients together until smooth and well combined
- Once the biscuits are cool, pair them up into tops and bottoms and divide the custard cream across the bottoms
- Spread the cream out, using a blunt knife
- (Optional) Put a small blob of jam (about 1/3 tsp) into the centre of each biscuit, spreading out slightly, so that any of the top biscuits with a cut out will appear to be filled with jam
- Add the top biscuit, pressing down lightly to sandwich the 2 halves together
Can I Adapt these Homemade Custard Creams?
You can customise these biscuits as you see fit:
- keep them plain – just use a regular cookie cutter
- use a cookie press to add a pretty pattern
- or even bag yourself a custard cream stamp for that authentic look
- if you’re adding the jam, cut out the centres to reveal the middle
And of course, if using jam, you can vary the flavour. Though raspberry is a safe bet, blackcurrant (pictured here) is my top choice. Rhubarb would also be a good bet.
These custard creams are, without a doubt, my favourite biscuit. This is partly due to them being totally irresistible. However, I know that when my girls have grown up and left home, baking these will bring back memories of many happy afternoons spent in the kitchen with two giggly little girls making a whopping big mess.
Get tempted by More Cookie Recipes:
- Orange caramel linzer cookies
- Espresso, hazelnut & nutella thumbprint cookies
- Malted milk biscuits
- Ginger spiced rye biscuits
- Dark chocolate, pistachio & sea-salt biscuits
If you tried this recipe please give it a rating below. Don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram too – I love to hear how you’ve got along. Use #littlesugarsnaps and tag me @jane_littlesugarsnaps.
Custard Cream Biscuits
Ingredients
For the Biscuits
- 150 g/ 2/3 cup Unsalted butter (softened)
- Pinch of salt
- 150 g/ 2/3 cup Caster sugar
- 75 g/ 2/3 cup Cornflour (cornstarch)
- 75 g/ 2/3 cup Plain (all purpose) flour
- 100 g/ 3/4 cup Custard powder (such as Birds)
- 150 g/ 1 cup Ground almonds
- 1 Egg – large, free range
For the Filling
- 125 g/ 1/2 cup Unsalted butter (softened)
- 50 g/ 1/2 cup Icing (confectioners) sugar
- 1 tbsp Custard powder
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
- Optional: raspberry or blackberry jam
Instructions
Make the Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 150°C/ 300°F/ GM 2
- Sieve the sugar, cornflour, plain flour, custard powder, salt and ground almonds into a large mixing bowl
- Cut the butter into cubes, add to the dry ingredients and rub in using your fingertips, until the mixture looks like sand or breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre
- Crack the egg into a small bowl, beat lightly, then pour into the well
- Using a blunt knife, pull it through the egg mix about 20 times, so that it starts to mix into the dry ingredients. Give the bowl a quarter turn and slash the knife another 20 times, then use your hands to gently bind the rest of the ingredients together into a ball
- Tip out and knead gently on the worktop until the dough is smooth. Flatten slightly, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 5mm (1/4 inch) thick. Cut out pairs of biscuits using cutters around 6-7cm/ 21/2 inch diameter (see notes). Re-roll the leftovers and cut again. You should end up with about 40 biscuits (20 pairs)
- If you are cutting out the centre of the biscuits, remember to do this on half of them only – the bottom of each pair should be whole, only the tops should have the cut-out
- Put the biscuits onto non-stick baking sheets (line with baking parchment if they are not non-stick), leaving a small space between each biscuit. Cover loosely with clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes, then bake for 20-25 minutes until the biscuits are beginning to brown
- Remove from the oven, let rest for 2 minutes, then transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool completely
Make the Filling
- Put the butter and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl, then sieve the icing sugar and custard powder into the bowl
- Once the biscuits are cool, pair them up into tops and bottoms and divide the custard cream across the bottoms
- Spread the cream out, using a blunt knife
- If you are using jam, put a small blob (about 1/3 tsp) into the centre of each biscuit, spreading out slightly, so that any of the top biscuits with a cut out will appear to be filled with jam
- Add the top biscuit, pressing down lightly to sandwich the 2 halves together
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days
Is custard powder the same thing as pudding mix? I want to make these for Mother’s day! thanks for sharing
Hi Cindy, that’s a great question. I’m going to be honest and say that I’m not sure 100%. Pudding mix isn’t something we get here in the UK, but from what I’ve read when I just googled it, it should be possible to use vanilla pudding mix as a substitute for custard powder here. If you do try it I’d been keen to hear how you got along so I can possibly update my recipe with the information. Best wishes, Jane
These cookies are absolutely gorgeous and a wonderful baking project with the kids! Love the combo of jam AND custard. SO yummy.
Gorgeous isnt enough Jane!! Absolutely nostalgic..my mum used to bake jammies ever since I was a kid! Pinning!
Thanks Swayam – I’m enjoying taking part in #SaucySaturdays
I love baking cookies with my boys. Though we don’t bake too many of them because we usually eat the dough. Some people get mad when the kids make a mess but since I am just as messy, we just go with it. Usually end up giggling too because there is flour or sugar on all of us! These look beautiful and the thought of that butter cream mixed with the sweet jelly makes my head swoon! Thanks for sharing these with Saucy Saturdays!
Hi Jennifer, I’m kind of proud that my kitchen always looks like a hurricane has hit it after a baking session with my girls, so completely agree with you. Tidy kitchen after kids baking session = me being a killjoy Mummy. I just won’t do that! However, eating the dough and double testing the buttercream are both wins for all of us too.
I absolutely have to do more baking with my daughter. But first, I need a visit from the patience fairy. I am resolved to make these beauties with her when fall rolls around and the temperature drops a bit. Thanks for linking up to #SaucySaturdays. I always enjoy your posts so much. Also just (re)subscribed to get your book. Yay!
Ah, thankyou so much Christine. Hope the book is useful for you…..
Jane these are SO GOOD. I have a thing for Jammie Dodgers, and this is definitely the ULTIMATE Jammie Dodger! 🙂 Genius! Thank you so much for sharing this with us at #SaucySaturdays!
A total pleasure, Dini. #SaucySaturdays is my first link party and so far, so good. You’re an excellent team of bloggers.
I just copied and pasted and sent to me..The Pin button appears on your delish photos..but keeps saying..OOPS..cannot pin..
Hi Monique. Thanks for taking the time to let me know. I’ve just resolved the issue (at least, I think I have). Happy pinning!
What beautiful little biscuits.. these look delicious and I imagine tasted just as good as their perfect appearance.
Thanks Thalia. So pleased you’re liking my recipes.
And then you go and put delicious pictures out there for my mouth to water even more. Everybody, this are the most delicious biscuit ever! Definitely as good as Jane makes them look in her fab photos. Go bake!
Thankyou Jo. Maybe next time I could courier some over to you 🙂