Once upon a time, there was a lovely innkeeper named Cinderella* (*names have been changed to enhance this post).
Cinderella cooked and cleaned and ran her inn, like so many other innkeepers do: welcoming guests, tending to her garden, cleaning rooms, and experimenting with recipes to serve at her historic bed & breakfast.
After many years of running her inn, Cinderella’s routine went off like clockwork. Even without the help of a fairy godmother, Cinderella’s guest rooms always sparkled, her table was impeccably set, and she knew exactly which foods would please her guests—including her now-famous mystery biscuits.
Light, flaky, and more like puff pasty than a traditional biscuit, Cinderella’s mystery biscuits were the hit of her inn. Never failing to please a palate, Cinderella guarded the secret to her sugar-coated biscuits as if her livelihood depended on it…refusing to share the secret recipe with anyone, including her beloved husband.
Since even I know better than to ask a reluctant cook to share her most treasured recipe, I have resigned myself to humbly cracking Cinderella’s biscuit code. I have tried experimenting on my own, scanning countless dozens of cookbooks (as well as online resources) in effort to find a recipe that might produce Cinderella’s enticing results. Sadly, I have met with little to no success.
My observant husband pointed out that Cinderella was quite elderly, and perhaps one of her distant relatives had brought the recipe over from “the old world.” I guess that’s possible. I don’t have the same recollection of Cinderella being particularly European (or otherwise), but perhaps it is so.
Wherever that recipe came from, I have never forgotten how wonderful Cinderella’s mystery biscuits tasted. While the following is not the recipe for Cinderella’s mystery biscuits, I discovered these little jewels along my quest.
Made with store-bought pie crust; an array of your favorite jams, jellies, or preserves; a bit of milk; not to mention a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon—these mini jam-filled turnovers are a fast, easy, and delicious addition to your morning meal, be it a bowl of cereal or veggie omelet.
Try setting some out as a first-course snack, served alongside juice, tea, or coffee, but you might want to consider whipping up an extra dozen if you have house guests. These mini turnovers are addictive, making it hard to eat just one.
Mini Jam-Filled Turnovers
(adapted from Best of Country Breakfast & Brunch, 2007 by Reiman Media Group)
- 1 package (2 rolls per box) refrigerated pie pastry
- a few tablespoons each of 3-4 of your favorite preserves, jams, or jellies
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar (white, turbinado, or demerara)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Assembly
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F; allow refrigerated pie crusts to come to room temperature according to package instructions.
Unroll each pastry, and cut into 4-6 wedges. Place approximately 1 rounded tablespoonful (more or less according to wedge size) of your favorite preserve, jelly, or jam in the center of each pastry. Create an assortment. Dampen edges with water. Fold each pastry over its filling and press (seal) edges together using the tines of a fork.
Place turnovers on ungreased baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper for easy clean up). Optional - cut a small slit in the top of each filled wedge. Brush each pastry with milk. Combine sugar and cinnamon; evenly sprinkle atop each turnover.
Bake at 425 degrees F for approximately 13-15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. In my experience, it has been better to undercook these turnovers than to overcook them—golden brown is too done, aim for a very light golden color.
Serve warm. Yields 8-12 turnovers, depending on wedge size.
Enjoy!
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on Oct 3rd, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Great idea for a quick and impressive breakfast or teatime treat. I’ve always got pastry in my freezer, too.
on Oct 3rd, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Oooh great story! I am so intrigued by Cinderella’s Mystery biscuits
Jam turnovers are great too, I sometimes put cheddar cheese in them-much to the horror of some but once they taste them they understand why 
on Oct 3rd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
This is great! I’ve been making jams and compotes like crazy, so this is a great way to use them aside from the usual breakfast toast. And they look totally decadent, always a plus!
on Oct 3rd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
These are adorable and would adorn my breakfast table perfectly.
on Oct 4th, 2008 at 10:21 am
These things look dangerous. I’d be hard pressed to want to share them with anyone. My mom used to make little treats like this with left over pie dough — especially cinnamon sugar nuts and butter. Oh the memories. Thanks for this one!
on Oct 4th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Love these. And I can do this!
on Oct 4th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Those look delicious and easy enough to pull off with my often foggy brain on weekend mornings. Until I’m at least halfway through my first post of coffee, it’s hard to do much. Thanks for sharing!
on Oct 4th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Dang! These look yummy! I made something similar, but yours looks soooooo much better!!!!!! http://brokenyolks.blogspot.com/2008/09/easy-strawberry-fruit-pies.html
on Oct 5th, 2008 at 9:53 am
They sound perfectly delicious to me
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 8:49 am
i doubt they could get any better than this–all i see is a plate of perfection.
on Oct 15th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
The turbinado sugar is always my favorite part of treats like these!