These bites would also be an ideal part of an afternoon tea
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We can tell you with confidence, everybody loves these bites. Rondo dough is so addictive, buttery soft with crunchy edges, like relishing fresh Dutch apple pie dough. The big challenge is to stop eating them yourself and preserve them for your guests.
This recipe is an easy and fun alternative to the original rondo recipe, which is a bit more elaborate with the almond paste filling and use of the rondo rings. This recipe combines the delicious rondo dough with apricot jam or another favorite of yours. We can think of many excellent combinations, from strawberry jam to fig and quince jelly. To get some of the almond flavor, while leaving out the original almond paste filling, you can add a little bit of almond extract to the dough, but you really do not need it.
These bites keep well in the freezer too, so you can make them in advance and defrost 30 minutes before you want to serve them.
Enjoy the bites baking!
Ingredients for the Rondo bites
makes 24
200 g pastry flour / French type 45 flour
5 g baking powder
Pinch of salt
150 g butter in cubes (we use butter with 82% fat content)
100 g soft white or light brown sugar (muscovado)
120 g / 24 tsps abricot jam or jam of choice
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
For this recipe we use a mini muffin pan with 12 holes, if you have a 24 hole pan, you can make all the rondo bites for this recipe in one go of course.
The holes in our muffin pan measure 5 cm / 2 inches on top and 3.5 cm / 1.4 inches at the bottom.
Making the dough
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and sift. Add the butter cubes and rub with your fingers together with the flour until a wet sand consistency. Add the muscovado sugar (and optional almond extract) and combine to form a smooth dough ball. Be careful not to overwork the dough by kneading too much, because you will not get that crumbly texture but make sure you end up with a smooth dough and all the butter is completely incorporated. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts, wrap both parts in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
Making the rondo bites
Preheat your oven at 175ºC / 350ºF, conventional setting. Take your mini muffin pan. You can brush the holes with butter, but if you use a non-stick pan you could also omit this part, because the butter content of the bites is already very high. We can tell you from our own experience, we do not prepare our tin and the bites do not stick. But please don’t be mad if yours does, we are just saying what works for us.
Take the first piece of wrapped dough from the fridge. Divide this dough into 12 equal parts (each weighing around 19 grams). Roll each piece of dough into a ball and place it in a muffin tin hole. Press the dough into the hole. Now make an indentation in each piece by pressing a wooden tamper or other fitting utensil in the dough, like you see in the picture. If you do not have any fitting tool laying around you can also use your thumb.
Now fill each hole with a teaspoon of apricot jam or your jam of choice. If your jam is very thick and/or sweet it could also benefit from the addition of a little bit of lemon juice.
Bake the rondo bites in the preheated oven for around 17 minutes until golden and crispy (depending on the workings of your oven). When ready, leave the bites to cool in the muffin pan for 10 minutes to firm up. Now you can try and give them a spin in their own cup, to check if they are not sticking anywhere and can easily be released. Take them out by turning the pan upside down. Leave to cool on a cooling rack.
Repeat this process with the other half of your dough.
Be sure to eat some fresh. Like we said, they can be stored in the freezer, but only if there’s anything left to store of course! We would also advice to consume the bites within one or maximum two weeks of freezing, because there is always a loss of quality over time.
Frederica says
December 15, 2017 at 04:23I made the dough, but no jam on hand. Can I use chocolate kisses instead of jam?
Weekend Bakers says
December 16, 2017 at 17:55Hi Frederica,
We are not personally familiar with the kisses, but if it fits in the rondo, it will very probably be OK. But jam is a great combo because of the freshness it gives the rich dough.
You can also use apple sauce or frozen fruit.
Let us know how it goes!
Zanzoona says
December 7, 2017 at 17:55I made it darling 😊, I mixed the flour with milk powder and used strawberry jam🍼🍼🍓🍓.. FABULOUS 😋😋😋😋😋😋👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Weekend Bakers says
December 9, 2017 at 19:03Thank you again for trying and of course enjoying the recipe.
Zanzoona says
December 7, 2017 at 12:52Is the butter at room temperature ( soft) or is it frozen ( hard)?
Weekend Bakers says
December 7, 2017 at 13:01Hello Zanzoona,
You can take the butter from the fridge, slice the right amount in little cubes and rub it in teh flour with your fingers. It will get warmer very soon because of the warmth of your hands. But room temperature will work perfectly fine too, as long as it is not too soft (otherwise there would be no cubes).
Happy bite baking!
Zanzoona says
December 7, 2017 at 13:43Thank you so much 😘 😘
Denise says
December 3, 2017 at 13:27Hello,
I came across your site via the article on ovens and now have fallen down a rabbit hole reading everything else 🙂
I’ve read your article on different flour types and your glossary, but can’t totally tell – as someone in the uk, would you suggest plain or self raising flour for ‘pastry’ flour? I’m assuming plain?
Thank you in advance, and apologies if you’ve been asked and answered this before!
Weekend Bakers says
December 3, 2017 at 14:35Hi Denise,
Thank you for taking the plunge 🙂
You have two options: Either you use the plain flour and add the 5 g baking powder ike the recipe states or use the self raising flour and leave out the 5 g baking powder (because the self raising flour already contains the baking powder).
Hope you enjoy the bites and Happy Holiday baking and sharing to you!
Marieke
Denise says
December 3, 2017 at 18:50Hello,
perfect. I thought you might say that but I wanted to check first. This is a lovely site – you’re very generous with your recipes but also all the replies to comments.
Thank you so much for sharing, and Happy Holiday baking to you too!
il conte says
February 28, 2017 at 22:20Made these for Carnevale (fat Tuesday), today. These are wonderful. I replaced 21 grams of the 80% butter with 21 grams of clarified butter to raise the butterfat in the dough and, lacking muscovado sugar, I used 95 grams of demara sugar mixed with 5 grams of molasses in its stead. I added a small amount of almond extract to the mixture and the dough came out perfect. Thanks for the treat.
Weekend Bakers says
March 1, 2017 at 22:18Hi Conte,
Thank you for sharing your version, so good to know this too gives an excellent result.
Enjoy the baking and the Carnavale!
Lee says
February 6, 2017 at 08:46Fantastic recipe! Haven’t seen these for years – my nan used to make them.
Have you tried making home-made donuts? Have just finished my second batch!
Weekend Bakers says
February 11, 2017 at 19:47Hi Lee, thank you for trying it.
So great, fond memories of grandma baking. Never made donuts ourselves we must confess, only the Dutch round version that is a bit similar called ‘oliebollen’ made for New Years. When made right also delicious.
tanuor says
January 28, 2017 at 08:26بسیار عالی بود
Weekend Bakers says
January 31, 2017 at 19:20Thank you , glad you liked the recipe.
Hilary says
January 8, 2017 at 02:49These were delicious! I used almond extract in the dough. I gave one to a friend as a tiny birthday cake. She was delighted.
Thank you both again for another fantastic recipe.
Weekend Bakers says
January 11, 2017 at 17:57Thank you Hilary, the almond extract gives it that patisserie smell, delicious.
We can imagine your friend gave you a ‘ I could eat another birthday cake’ look, after the first bite.
Happy bites baking!
Hilary says
January 14, 2017 at 19:48Believe it or not my friend divided the 1 tiny rondo with her husband. A low calorie birthday cake!
Weekend Bakers says
January 20, 2017 at 14:38That is an impressive example of sharing!
Nour's Mom says
January 2, 2017 at 23:07Dit recept is nou echt een recept waar ik naar zocht! Het lijkt super simpel vergeleken met het ander recept.
Ik heb wel een vraagje over de muscovado suiker. Waar kopen jullie die? Wil dit recept zo snel mogelijk maken.
Bedankt voor jullie geweldige website en recepten. Jullie stijl en punctualiteit spreekt me heel erg aan!
Weekend Bakers says
January 3, 2017 at 10:45Dank voor je leuke bericht! We zijn nog bezig met de Nederlandse versie, maar door de drukke decembermaand lopen we wat achter met onze plannen. Hopelijk lukt het ook met deze versie en als je alvast weet dat er bij de NL versie komt te staan dat het gaat om (gele) basterdsuiker.
Veel plezier met bakken,
Ed & Marieke
تاریخ امروز says
December 24, 2016 at 14:29Hi and thanks for the delicious rondo bites, I want to make it as soon as possible.
Weekend Bakers says
December 30, 2016 at 09:03Thanks, let us know how it goes!
Albert says
December 20, 2016 at 14:24i made this today it is super easy and what a lovelything to eat almost finished it without sharing
albert
Weekend Bakers says
December 23, 2016 at 18:29Hallo Albert,
Thank you so much, we feel the same.
Enjoy the baking, eating and sharing this season!
jeanette O'Donnell says
December 20, 2016 at 08:35Can’t wait to try these
Weekend Bakers says
December 23, 2016 at 18:28Let us know how it goes!
Happy Holiday baking from Holland
Gene Racicot says
December 13, 2016 at 00:42I live near the US northern border. Flour is dry and I usually have to add more moisture. But making this dough I had to add a good quarter cup of milk to get the dought to bind. Seems a lot. Any comment?
Weekend Bakers says
December 13, 2016 at 12:01Hi Gene,
Thank you for your feedback. We get remarks similar to yours from the US. Next to the flour absorbing more liquid we think there could be a difference in the composition of the butter and (muscovado) sugar. Our dough comes together very well without any liquid, and the butter content is very high too, like with shortbread, also made without any added liquid. Maybe it would also help to work with butter at room temperature, adding it to the sugar first then adding the flour, and see how this comes together and if less liquid is needed this way.
But hope the result with the liquid are very edible too of course.
Happy baking and happy holidays to you!
Greetings from Holland,
Ed & Marieke
Gene Racicot says
December 14, 2016 at 16:22It seems that European butters have 83% to 86% fat while here it’s more around 81%. Of course it depends on the dairy.
Weekend Bakers says
December 18, 2016 at 18:08Based on what people describe to us the butter we use seems to be more ‘pliable’ and less ‘brittle’ than the butter used in the US for instance.
Anita says
December 8, 2016 at 10:08Oh, I forgot to say – half way through the bake I realised that I hadn’t put enough jam in the holes, the jam had almost disappeared, so I quickly took the tin out of the oven and added another spoonful of jam, put them back and it worked perfectly.
Anita says
December 8, 2016 at 10:06Just made these today and am delighted with the result. I was a bit nervous how the dough was going to come together, but it did! Luckily, my butter was 82% (by default) – I checked after reading the comment below! I used soft brown sugar – maybe I will buy light muscovado for next time, but really the texture was perfect. I used apricot and a red jam for Xmas colour. I didn’t grease the tin and they came out OK. I did the little twirl and they moved but didn’t all drop out when I turned the tin over, so I just lifted them gently on one edge with a little sharp pointed knife and they came out easily. Thanks for a great recipe, so easy, yet so effective. They are in the freezer now, ready for two functions next week. Happy Christmas! Anita in Melbourne, Oz.
Weekend Bakers says
December 13, 2016 at 12:30Hi Anita,
So glad to hear it! And it confirms our idea about the butter again too. Excellent.
Wishing you success with the functions and a lovely Christmas time with family and friends and lots of baking and sharing!
Greetings from Holland,
Ed & Marieke
Gail McMillan says
November 30, 2016 at 21:44I made these Rondo bites over the weekend and have a question(s). The dough came out like a crumb topping so I pressed it into my muffin tin. Since there is no liquid in it, there was no way I could roll out the dough. Help! I placed jam in center and baked them. My rondos came out more cookie- like than cake. Taste was fabulous and we loved them What kind of flour should I be using? Your advice will be appreciated. Thank you.
Weekend Bakers says
December 3, 2016 at 19:05Hi Gail,
Reading your comment we think it could be a difference in ingredients, the butter and / or sugar that could in part explain your dough being crumbly. The butter we use has a fat content of 82% and the sugar is soft muscovado sugar which is ‘wetter’ and has certain properties. With the use of our ingredients the dough becomes smooth, but maybe you could make some adjustments to also make it less crumbly, even with a dash of milk for instance. We also added the dimensions of our mini muffin pan: The holes in our muffin pan measure 5 cm / 2 inches on top and 3.5 cm / 1.4 inches at the bottom. We would describe the rondo bites’ texture as something between a crumbly cookie and (softer) cake.
You can use pastry flour like we suggest in the recipe or just plain / all purpose flour.
Happy baking!
Heather says
November 30, 2016 at 00:09Hi,
Would you please provide the dimensions of the mini muffin pans. Thanks so much. Love your website and I eagerly anticipate any new posts.
Weekend Bakers says
November 30, 2016 at 11:47Hi Heather,
Thank you! Good of you to mention this, we will add it to the recipe too. The pan we use has cups that measure 5 cm (2 inches) on the top and 3.5 cm (1.4 inches) on the bottom.
Happy baking and sharing this season,
Marieke