Jammie Dodgers: Dr. Who's Favourite Biscuit
Made from short bread and raspberry jam, Jammie Dodgers are popular British biscuits.
With short bread on the outside and raspberry flavoured jam on the inside, this biscuits has been enjoyed by Brits for more than 50 years. Currently, Burton’s Biscuit Company is producing these biscuits in a factory located in Llantarnam. In the United Kingdom in 2009, these biscuits were listed as the most popular sweet biscuit brand for children. Burton’s re-introduced the Jammie Dodgers in 2011 and two new brands have been born; the Choccie and the Toffee.
Etymology
Jammie Dodgers is a biscuit that was named after Roger the Dodger, a comic book character featured in The Beano. The Jammie part, could be attributed for the jam fillings. The comic book first appeared in 1953 and if you're wondering what Roger was dodging, it was homework.
Country of Origin and Usage
Jammie Dodgers, touted as the most popular children’s biscuit in the United Kingdom were born in Wales, in the factory of Burton Biscuit Company in the 1960s. Over the years, these biscuits have been modified and the Jammie Dodgers being distributed today are the softer and paler versions of the original biscuits. The embossed hearts have also been replaced.
Now there are embossed splashes surrounding the middle cut-out hearts. Different variations have been made to the recipe of the original Jammie Dodgers. Burton’s also released new flavours and specials, which have been incorporated with different filling and created with different designs.
Ingredients and Preparation
Basic ingredients for Jammie Dodgers include; flour, baking powder, caster sugar, vanilla sugar, eggs, salt and your favorite jam. Burton’s uses raspberry flavoured jam as filling, while home cooks also use other types of jams. The original Jammie Dodgers consist of two crisp, pale-colored shortcake cookies that sandwich a layer of jam (raspberry-flavoured). The top biscuit has a heart shaped hole that displays that jam inside; around the hole is an imprinted design.
The Biggest Producers and Brands of Jammie Dodgers Worldwide
United Kingdom’s Burton’s Biscuit Company is the biggest manufacturer of the Jammie Dodgers. This biscuit making company started creating the Jammie Dodgers more than 50 years ago, and since then the British people – children and adult alike – have been enjoying these delightfully delicious biscuits.
Today, Jammie Dodgers Biscuits come in these varieties:
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Original
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Jam ‘n Custard (with white fondant layer and raspberry flavoured jam layer as topping)
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Outrageous Orange
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Vannila Thriller
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Vimto Version (These biscuits have been designed with Vimto written on them and these are only released on limited edition and during special occasions)
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Minis Lunchpack Berrilicious
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Berrilicious
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Minis Lunchpack Original
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Snack Bar
• The Jammie Dodgers Biscuits Minis Share Bag Original
Interesting Facts about Jammie Dodgers
The Jammie Dodgers are very popular and they are the favourite snack food of singer Labrinth and Dr. Who. We have Math Smith, the 11th doctor, to thank for that. The biscuit was prominently mentioned in the 2010 episode of the show, titled, Victory of the Daleks. In the same series, the Doctor has also used a pack of Jammie Dodgers to settle the dispute between the Dead Rabbit Gang and the Pug Ugly gang. Jammie Dodgers were also used as the favorite biscuits of Jonny Keogh in the BBC sitcome titled, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.
Despite the fact that Doctor Who is considered by a lot of people as the series that popularized the Jammie Dodgers, these cookies are actually just as popular outside the series. Jammie Dodgers are so popular for its delicious taste that one particular mother of two from Rowley Regis, West Midlands would skip breakfast and lunch to eat 22 pieces of Jammie Dodgers every day. Tracey Foster is a sweet-tooth and was a self-confessed Jammie Dodgers addict who said to have spent £1,255 every year for her favourite cookie. She would even wash down these cookies down mug after mug of sugary tea. After 20 years of Jammie Dodgers addiction, Tracey Foster’s body shot up to size 30. After her knee surgery due to arthritis in 2011, Tracey decided to change her ways and went the healthy lifestyle way.
Losing weight and- staying- n shape while eating biscuits it is possible
In 2005, the Jammie Dodgers recipe was reformulated and the salt content was decreased. Palm oil was also used and hydrogenated fats were eliminated from the recipe. As of 2016, the recipes for Jammie Dodgers have changed. This new recipe also cut down on sugar. For people who want to have their own version of Jammie Dodgers, all you need to do is to bake shortcake biscuits in pairs; with the top biscuit holed (heart-shaped). Then fill the holes with raspberry jam, and you have your delicious Dr. Who-favorite cookie.
The Jammie Dodgers are named as the biggest children’s biscuit brand in the United Kingdom – though adults love them too. In 2011, Toffee and Choccie were launched as the new Jammie Dodgers flavours.
In 2013, two new flavours were released; the Banana and Tofee and the Jam and Custard. The middle parts of the Jammie Dodgers have always been holes with heart shapes. The embossed heart shape though has been replaced by splashes of jams. Jammie Dodgers are often mis-spelled as Jammy Dodgers. The jam filling used is actually not made from raspberry, rather, they are made from plums and flavourings are added to provide the vague taste of raspberry.
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