Spitzbuben made with the Thermomix® are the biscuit that always disappears first from the Christmas tin. Two shortbread rounds, a dot of redcurrant jelly in the middle, and the classic hole on top dusted with icing sugar. We make them from a simple shortbread dough with 130 g butter, 130 g sugar and 250 g flour, completely without almonds and without baking powder. If you still have homemade redcurrant jelly in the cupboard, you are already one step ahead.
The whole dough is ready in 3 minutes on kneading mode, then it only needs an hour of rest in the fridge. From this quantity we get about 30 finished Spitzbuben with around 101 calories each. We explain why cold butter makes or breaks the crumbly dough and where most batches go wrong.
Spitzbuben (Jam Sandwich Biscuits) with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 7 ✓
- 130 g butter
- 250 g flour
- 130 g sugar
- 1 sachet vanilla sugar
- 1 egg
- 50 g icing sugar
- 150 g jam to taste
Instructions 0 / 6
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1
Dough ingredients.
Cut the butter into pieces and add to the mixing bowl along with the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and egg. Knead for 3 minutes / kneading mode.
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2
Rest the dough.
Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, knead briefly with your hands until smooth, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
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3
Preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 180°C top and bottom heat and line a baking tray with baking paper.
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4
Roll out the dough.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 2 to 3 mm thick. Cut out biscuits using a cookie cutter (star, circle, or heart shape) and, for half of them, use an apple corer or similar to cut out a small hole in the centre.
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5
Bake.
Place the biscuits on the baking-paper-lined tray and bake in the centre of the oven for 8 to 10 minutes until just lightly golden. Leave the biscuits to cool completely.
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6
Assemble.
Dust the biscuits with holes on the top side with icing sugar. Spread jam on the inside of the whole biscuits, then place a biscuit with a hole on top.
Tip: If your family is larger, simply double all the ingredients. You will see that not a single biscuit will be left.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Why cold butter saves the shortbread dough
The dough consists of 130 g butter, 250 g flour, 130 g sugar, 1 sachet of vanilla sugar and 1 egg. The ratio is intentionally lower in butter than a classic 1-2-3 shortbread, which makes the dough easier to cut out cleanly and keeps sharp edges during baking. We cut the butter cold into pieces and add it straight to the mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients. Then knead for 3 minutes on kneading mode, and that is it.
This is exactly where the Thermomix® has the advantage: the machine works cold butter into the dough in seconds, without us ever touching it with warm hands. By hand, cold butter smears, or you let it soften and the biscuits spread in the oven. Many Thermomix® recipes from the Vorwerk community start with soft butter and around 125 g ground almonds plus baking powder. That works, but gives a softer, more cake-like biscuit. We take the pure route without a raising agent, because Spitzbuben should be crisp, not fluffy.
Three pitfalls that ruin the batch
Cracks when rolling out
Straight from the fridge the dough is often so firm that it cracks at the edges. Our solution: let the dough acclimatise at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes after the chilling time and knead it briefly with your hands until it becomes pliable. We roll it out in portions between two sheets of baking paper or inside a cut-open freezer bag to 2 to 3 mm. Nothing sticks and the dough stays cold.
The lids go too dark
We bake Spitzbuben at 180°C top and bottom heat for only 8 to 10 minutes, and they should come out pale. The edges should just turn golden, not brown. Our solution: stay nearby from minute 7 onwards. The thin tops with the holes are often done 1 to 2 minutes before the solid bases, because there is less dough. Placing the tops and bases on separate trays makes timing much easier.
The jelly softens the biscuit
Spreading warm jelly on still-warm biscuits results in soggy Spitzbuben the next day. Our solution: let both halves cool completely first. Place about half a teaspoon of redcurrant jelly on each solid base, then carefully place a top with a hole on top. We dust the icing sugar over the tops right at the end, otherwise it absorbs in and disappears.
Stirring the jelly smooth before filling
Firm redcurrant jelly is often lumpy and difficult to spread. The Thermomix® helps again here: we add the 150 g jam to the clean mixing bowl and stir smooth for 20 seconds / speed 4. This creates a silky filling that shows through the hole in the lid as a clean bright red. One important point: the filling must be firm enough. Liquid jam runs out at the sides and sticks the tin shut.
Variations on the classic Spitzbuben
Nutty: We replace 50 g of flour with ground almonds or hazelnuts. This gives more texture and a slight Linzer note.
Chocolate: Swap 30 g of flour for 30 g of cocoa powder and use a chocolate ganache as the filling instead of jelly.
Citrus: Add the zest of one unwaxed lemon to the dough. A fruity citrus marmalade works beautifully as the filling.
Creamy: Instead of jelly, we fill them with a buttercream with a splash of rum. This variation keeps less well and should be eaten fairly promptly.
More biscuits for the Christmas tin
Spitzbuben rarely appear alone on the plate. We like to combine them with other Christmas recipes made with the Thermomix®. These combinations work best for us:
- Vanilla crescents (with video) as a second classic shortbread biscuit
- Shake-and-bake cookies for a quick baking session with children
- Chocolate and peanut butter cookies as a softer contrast to the crisp Spitzbuben
- Caramelised almonds for snacking
- Pear mulled wine or children’s punch as a drink alongside the biscuit tin
Make ahead and keeping the biscuits fresh
Spitzbuben are a rewarding make-ahead treat. We knead the dough up to 3 days in advance and keep it wrapped in cling film in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature briefly before rolling out. Baked unfilled, the biscuits keep in an airtight tin for about 2 weeks. A classic like this stays fresh longer than modern soft baked goods. A slice of apple in the tin keeps them from drying out.
Filled Spitzbuben should be eaten within a few days, as the jelly gradually soaks into the biscuit and softens it. Unfilled, the halves can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving, then fill and dust with icing sugar. For a fresh feel, a brief warm-up works well: 3 minutes at 50°C in the Thermomix® Varoma, then leave to cool briefly.
Frequently asked questions about Spitzbuben with the Thermomix®
Goes well with: Coffee and mulled wine.
Our tools for evenly shaped biscuits
For neat Spitzbuben we mainly need two cutters of the same size (one solid and one with a hole) and a smooth work surface. These are the tools we like to use:
