If you are a keen home preserves enthusiast, the chances are that you have a cupboard or two filled with mouthwatering jams and jellies just waiting to be devoured by an appreciative family. You probably give away plenty more as gifts to friends and family too. And if a neighbour pops round for a quick coffee, they also go home with a jam jar or kilner jar in hand, don’t they? The trouble is that once you start to make some inroads into your jam collection, it offers the perfect excuse to make some more! So, if you’re looking for some ideas on how to use some of that delicious jam, other than on toast for breakfast, you’re in luck, as today on the blog, we’re going to suggest some baking recipes that use jam as a key ingredient.

Jam flapjacks

One quick and easy, but oh so tasty, recipe that uses up a little jam is jam flapjacks. These are perfect to rustle up for packed lunches or to have to hand for when those neighbours pop round for coffee! Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

200gms butter

200gms brown sugar

225gms self-raising flour

200gms rolled oats

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp baking powder

160gms jam (any flavour)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C and grease a shallow baking tin with butter.

Soften the butter and then add it to a large mixing bowl, along with the sugar. Beat really well, until the mixture is soft and creamy.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and then add the oats and vanilla extract. Mix everything together well.

Spoon half of the mixture into the baking tray and spread it evenly across the base of the tray, pressing it down firmly.

Spread the jam across the flapjack mix, ensuring an even coverage.

Spoon the remaining mixture on top of the jam, making sure that it covers all of the jam.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the flapjack is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a baking tray. After 10 minutes or so, score out the slices of flapjack with a knife, but leave it in the tray until it is completely cool. Store in an airtight container.

Jumbo jammy dodger cake

This is one of our all-time favourite cakes and it’s guaranteed to raise a smile on the face of anyone who’s never seen one before, bringing back fond memories of childhood biscuit treats. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

500gms plain flour

170gms caster sugar

325gms butter

strawberry jam

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°.

In a food mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until it is smooth. Then add the flour and mix slowly until a dough-like consistency is reached.

On a clean work surface, press the dough into a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill the mix for half an hour, then split the mixture into two equal portions and roll one portion out to a 0.5cm thickness.

Use the top edge of a scalloped loose-bottom tart tin to press out the shape for the base. Line the tart tin with greaseproof paper and place the cut shape into the tin, ensuring it sits flat on the base.

Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

Make another disc and place in the tart tin, then place this in the fridge until the top decorations have been made. Using greaseproof paper and an edible ink pen, draw a design for the top of the jammy dodger - this should look a little like a giant ink splodge, with a large heart shape in the middle. Carefully cut out the design from the rolled-out dough. Chill this cut out shape for 10 minutes in the fridge.

Once chilled, bring out the two upper layers and place the shape carefully on top of the top disc, using water to stick the two layers together. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut through both the splodge shaped layer and the top disc layer. Put this back in the fridge to chill again for another 15 minutes before baking for 15 minutes, until golden brown.

Once cooked, leave to cool completely on a cooling tray.

Heat 5 tablespoons of strawberry jam, just enough to soften it and make it easy to spread. Spread the jam over the whole of the bottom layer, then carefully place the top layer with the decoration facing upwards, on top of the jam. Leave the jam to cool for an hour or so before serving.

More ideas for baking with jam

Whether you have a jam jar of apricot jam or a Kilner jar of gooseberry preserve, there are always ways to incorporate it into a baking project. From traditional jam tarts to quick and easy muffins, jam can be a versatile friend in the kitchen. If you’ve got some great baking ideas you’d like to share, why not send them to us via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter?