Shortbread Peach Jam Squares

Make Shortbread Peach Jam Squares by surrounding bright sweet peach jam with crumbly buttery shortbread and baking it all to golden perfection!

When sweet peaches are in season, I can’t help myself; I have to make peach jam. While we also eat plenty and I freeze some, jam seems like the best way to make sure we can enjoy the flavorful juicy peaches for months to come.

Is it just me or does anyone else get an inordinate amount of satisfaction from seeing rows of homemade jams, chutneys and preserves in the pantry?

I get a little giddy as my stock grows although I also like to give some away. I have one rule though, if possible, wash my jars and give them back once they are empty! You’ll be much more likely to be a future recipient if you do.

Shortbread Peach Jam Squares

This recipe is adapted from one on Tasty for blackberry jam squares. As long as it’s nice and thick, you can use your favorite jam. I popped one cup of my homemade peach jam on the scale and it weighed 290g. I’ve added the correct measure below, for those of you who weigh ingredients.

Ingredients
2/3 cup or 158g butter, plus extra for greasing pan
1/8 cup or 25g sugar
1/8 cup or 25g dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups or 312g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups or 363g peach jam

Method
Preheat the oven to 350˚F or 180˚C and prepare an 9x9 in or 23x23cm pan by greasing it lightly and lining it with baking parchment.

Note: If you don’t mind cutting the squares in your pan, you can skip the baking parchment step but I find that I end up damaging my pan if I can’t remove the baked goods before cutting. The parchment makes lifting out easy.

Melt two tablespoons of the butter and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, beat together the rest of the butter and the two sugars until fluffy.

Add in the egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract and beat again.

Sift 2 cups or 250g of the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until combined.

 

Bring the mixture together using your clean hands to make a dough and divide it into two equal pieces.

Use your clean hands to spread out half of the dough in the baking pan. Prick the dough with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming while baking.

Spread the peach jam on top.

Mix in the remaining flour into the dough and use a fork to make a knobbly crumble.

Sprinkle the crumble on top of the jam.

Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Leave to cool completely then lift it out with the parchment paper. Cut into squares.

Enjoy!

This month my fellow Baking Bloggers are featuring peaches in all of our recipes, some savory, some sweet! Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime for all her behind-the-scenes work. Check out all the peachy deliciousness below:

• Uruguayan Peach Chaja Cake from Pandemonium Noshery
• Peach BBQ Chicken Legs from Making Miracles
• Peach Dump Cake from Veggies First Then Dessert
• Mini Peach Cobblers from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Roasted Flank Steak with Fresh Peach Pico de Gallo from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Single Serving Baked Peach Crisp from Sneha's Recipe
• Shortbread Peach Jam Squares from Food Lust People Love
• Peach Clafoutis from Cookaholic Wife
• Fresh Peach Shortcake from Palatable Pastime
• Gluten Free Peach Crisp from Cook with Renu

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

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Chocolate Banana Mini Muffins #MuffinMonday

The bananas are very subtle in these chocolate banana mini muffins. What they don’t add in flavor though, they make up for in texture. These little guys are soft, tender and light. And oh, so chocolatey, with both cocoa and chocolate chips.

There are advantages and disadvantages to cooking and blogging as a hobby during this pandemic. The good part is that I can keep the family well fed and happy with home-cooked meals and treats. The bad part is that now I can’t have friends and extended family coming over for meals and that means leftovers that might get wasted.

I’m here to tell you that I’ve found a solution! About a week ago, I posted a notice on the neighborhood social site NextDoor, saying:

“Paying it forward with baked goods. Hi, neighbors! I am an avid baker with a food blog. The fun for me is creating recipes which my family and friends enjoy but because my mom has various autoimmune issues, we've been trying to stay to ourselves these past few months. This means that I have more baked goods than we can eat from time to time. I'd love to share with people in the neighborhood who could use a treat. Please pm me if you know someone in our neighborhood that would appreciate it and/or deserves it, with their name and address. I will drop fresh cookies, cake or muffins, etc. off whenever I bake, right on their front porch. Bonus points if you tell me why you think they need/deserve a treat and I'll try to get around to everyone in time. (I'll add a note saying which neighbor nominated them to receive baked goods. Please say if you don't want me to mention you by name and I'll just say, "a neighbor.") Please let me know if there are any dietary restrictions as well. Many thanks in advance!”

So far, I have dropped off treats to two very deserving neighbors: shortbread peach jam squares and these mini muffins. I am baking some super rich brownies today for a third!

Chocolate Banana Mini Muffins

Even if you aren’t typically a fan of bananas, I encourage you to give these muffins a try. They don’t really taste very much like banana but they are completely delicious. This recipe is adapted from one at All Recipes.

Ingredients 
1 1/2 cups or 187g all-purpose flour
1/2 cup, firmly packed, or 100g dark brown sugar
1/4 cup or 30g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large ripe bananas (about 1 cup or 250g)
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
1 egg
1/4 cup or 61g Greek yogurt
1/4 cup or 45g semisweet chocolate chips

Method
Preheat the oven to 375°F or 190°C. Prepare your 24-cup mini muffin pan by greasing it or line it with paper liners.

Mash your bananas with a fork.

Whisk the mashed bananas, oil, egg and yogurt together in a mixing bowl.

Lightly whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in another mixing bowl to combine.




Add the chocolate chips to the dry ingredients bowl, using the tip below.

Tip: Tired of your chocolate chips falling to the bottom of your muffins? Try this trick: drizzle just the tiniest bit of the oil onto the chocolate chips and stir until they are shiny. Add these to the dry ingredients and stir well to coat.

Fold the wet ingredients into flour mixture until just moistened.

Divide batter among the muffin cups. I love my little scoop for this job but if you don’t have one, a spoon will do.

Bake the muffins in your preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 12-15 minutes.

Cool in the pan for a few minutes then remove the muffins from the pan and continue to cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Check out all of the great muffins my Muffin Monday friends are sharing today!

• Berry Oatmeal Muffin from Passion Kneaded
• Chocolate Banana Mini Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Cinnamon Applesauce Muffins from Making Miracles
• Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Jalapeño Corn Bread Muffins with Cheddar Butter from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Red, White & Blue Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Sour Cream Lemon Muffins with a Rosemary Glaze from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Sourdough Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Bay Scallop Shrimp Biryani #FishFridayFoodies

This Bay Scallop Shrimp Biryani is a fragrant dish of well-seasoned seafood quickly seared till golden then mixed with long-grained basmati rice. It’s one of our favorite one-pot meals!

We love biryani but I must confess that it’s not a dish I make very often, primarily because, aside from egg biryani, my favorite kind is made with lamb. Lamb biryani means cooking the meat first, long and slow, in which case I’m probably just going to make lamb curry or lamb stew and serve them with white rice.

It’s just occurring to me that maybe I need to try a lamb biryani in my Instant Pot. I still think it would take longer than this relatively quick bay scallop shrimp biryani.

Bay Scallop Shrimp Biryani

If you are using frozen shrimp and scallops in this recipe, make sure to thaw and drain well before you begin. Since we want to get a good sear with color on them, I’d even suggest patting them dry with a paper towel before seasoning. I’ve adapted this recipe from the shrimp biryani in At Home with Madhur Jaffrey.

Ingredients
2 cups or 385g long-grained basmati rice
1 lb or 450g bay scallops
1 lb or 450g medium raw shrimp, peeled and cleaned
1 small bunch fresh cilantro
5-6 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons canola oil or other light oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 2/3 cups or 630ml store-bought or homemade shrimp or fish stock
4 cardamom pods
3 inch or 7.5cm stick cinnamon

Optional to serve:
Fried onions – can be purchased at most Asian markets

Method
Discard any hard stems from the cilantro and then mince the tender stems finely. Chop the leaves roughly and set aside a small handful for garnish at the end.

Rinse and strain the rice with cool cold water until the liquid that comes off the rice is clear. When done, drain the rice. I have a special tool for this that I bought when I lived in Brazil, where it got use daily. It’s called, no surprise, a “lava arroz” which means, wash rice.

You can use a colander or strainer, if the holes are small enough. Finally soak the rinsed rice in more cool water for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the scallops and shrimp with the minced fine cilantro stems, garlic, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a generous few grinds of black pepper. Toss well. Set bowl aside for 5 minutes.

Heat large non-stick skillet over a high heat. Add a small drizzle of the oil and then about a quarter of the shrimp and scallops and sear them quickly. You are looking for a little brown color so avoid stirring for the first minute or so. Check for color with a pair of tongs.

Just starting to brown! 

Cook another minute and tip them into a bowl. Continue with the rest of the shrimp and scallops until all are seared and in the bowl. Add in the lemon juice and the bigger pile of chopped cilantro.

Mix well.

Add 2 tablespoons oil to your skillet. (You will see that I changed pans here. This is because I don’t have a tight-fitting lid for my non-stick skillet. If you do, you can continue in the same pan. I did deglaze my original pan with a little of the stock so I wouldn’t lose the brown bits left behind there.)

Give the cardamom pods a slight bash with your pestle or the flat side of a knife. You just want to crack them open a little. Add the cinnamon to the pan along with the cardamom pods. Fry over a medium heat for a couple of minutes.

Pour the stock into the pan and turn the heat up. Assuming you’ve used the same pan, use a wooden spoon to dislodge any brown bits on the pan.

When the liquid comes to a boil, add the rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Stir well, and then cover the pan tightly, reduce the heat to your lowest simmer, and cook for 25 minutes.

Turn off the heat and leave the pan to rest covered for 10 minutes. Remove the lid of the pan. You can discard the cinnamon stick and the cardamom or leave them in. Up to you.

Distribute the scallops and shrimp over the top of the rice and scrape in any juices that have accumulated in the bowl. Cover and set aside for another minute or two.

Stir the mixture gently.  Sprinkle with the reserved cilantro leaves and some crunchy fried onions.

Enjoy!

Check out the other lovely biryanis my fellow Fish Friday Foodies are sharing today. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha's Recipe and our group leader Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.

• Bay Scallop Shrimp Biryani by Food Lust People Love
• Instant Pot Shrimp Biryani by Making Miracles
• Prawn Biryani + Homemade Naan by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Seafood Biryani by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shrimp Biryani by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Tandoori Prawn Biryani For One by Sneha's Recipe

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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