Niki Segnit writes in The Flavour Thesaurus that, while grape jelly is the familiar partner to peanut butter in the classic PBJ, she thinks blackcurrant, with its sharper, more complex character, would be a far better match for the fatty and salty peanuts. I couldn’t agree more, though I’ll admit I’m not entirely impartial: blackcurrant is my favourite jam. Here, it’s spooned into the centre of a tender, peanut-crusted shortbread, where it bakes into a glossy, slightly chewy jewel that sits in perfect contrast to the crumbly, buttery biscuit. It’s the sort of small pleasure I find myself returning to again and again.
Peanut and blackcurrant thumbprint cookies
Prep 15 min, plus chilling and cooling
Cook 35 min
Makes 13
110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
50g caster sugar
¼ tsp salt
100g plain flour, sifted
60g ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g salted roasted peanuts
60g blackcurrant jam
Put the butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat for two minutes on medium–high speed, until pale and creamy. Scrape down the base and sides of the bowl with a spatula, then add the flour, ground almonds and vanilla, and mix on low speed until it all comes together into a soft dough.
Scrape the dough on to a work surface and knead gently just to bring it together into a smooth ball. Flatten slightly, wrap or cover, and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, line one large (or two smaller) baking trays with baking paper. Put the peanuts in a zip-lock bag, bash them roughly with a rolling pin until lightly crushed, then tip into a bowl.
Heat the oven to 170C (150C fan)/340F/gas 3½. Remove the dough from the fridge, pinch off 13 (roughly 25g) pieces and roll them into balls. Roll each ball in the crushed peanuts, pressing them lightly into the dough so they stick to it. Arrange on the tray, spacing them about 5cm apart. Press your thumb slowly into the centre of each to make a deep indentation, then spoon about half a teaspoon of blackcurrant jam into each – take care not to overfill them.
Bake for about 35 minutes, until the jam is bubbling and the cookies are just beginning to take on colour on the bases and edges. Remove from the oven, leave to cool on the trays for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
