Vanilla + Plum Jam Thumbprint Biscuits

For August’s Candle Club box, Worn Pages felt bookish, nostalgic and a little rainy-day cozy, so these Vanilla + Plum Jam Thumbprint Biscuits fit perfectly.

They’re soft, buttery and just sweet enough, with a little spoonful of plum jam in the centre. They’re also very toddler-friendly to make.

Rolling the dough into balls, pressing little thumbs into the centres and spooning in the jam is exactly the kind of baking that feels slightly chaotic but very worth it.

Vanilla + Plum Jam Thumbprint Biscuits

You’ll need:

125g softened butter

⅓ cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg yolk

1 cup plain flour

¼ cup cornflour

Plum jam, or whatever jam you have on hand

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar until soft, then mix in the vanilla and egg yolk.

Stir through the flour and cornflour until a soft dough forms.

Roll into small balls and place onto a lined baking tray.

Press your thumb gently into the centre of each biscuit and add a small spoonful of plum jam.

Bake at 170°C for around 12–15 minutes, until just golden around the edges.

Let them cool, put the kettle on and find something good to read.

Toddler Friendly - This is a really nice recipe to make with toddlers because there are plenty of easy jobs they can help with. Let them roll the dough, make the thumbprints, choose which jam goes in the middle or line the finished biscuits up on the tray.

The Worn Pages pairing

I made these to go alongside August’s Worn Pages Candle Club collection.

Worn Pages was inspired by rainy afternoons, old books, soft leather and the feeling of getting completely lost in a story.

The scent blended mirabelle plum, distressed leather and warm Madagascar vanilla, so plum jam and vanilla biscuits felt like a very obvious pairing.

Light the candle, make a plate of biscuits, put the kettle on and disappear into a book for a while.

That’s a pretty good winter afternoon, if you ask me.

Worn Pages: August’s Candle Club Collection

Worn Pages was made for rainy winter afternoons, old books, soft blankets and staying in a little longer.

Mirabelle plum opens the scent with a dark, slightly sweet fruitiness before patchouli and distressed leather settle in underneath. Warm Madagascar vanilla softens everything.

The result feels like finding a well-loved book on a rainy afternoon — creased corners, leather bindings and dark wooden shelves filled with stories waiting to be told.

The kind of scent that makes you want to put the kettle on, light a candle and read just one more chapter.

Let’s unbox it together.

This Month’s Cozy Gift: A Pure Beeswax Taper

For August, I wanted the cozy gift to feel simple, useful and a little nostalgic.

Each Worn Pages box included a pure beeswax taper candle — something to light at the dinner table, beside your book, or on a quiet winter evening when you want the room to feel a little softer.

Made from pure beeswax, the taper burns with that beautiful warm glow that feels especially right in winter.

I loved the idea of Candle Club members having two different kinds of candlelight in the box this month — Worn Pages for scent, and the beeswax taper for those slower everyday moments.

A Winter Field Note for Reading Season

August’s Field Guide leaned fully into the feeling of winter reading.

Inside, members found seasonal prompts, little things to notice, ideas for slowing down and a few pages to enjoy alongside the candle.

Worn Pages was really about making space for the kind of evening that doesn’t need to be productive.

A Reading List from Book Lover Bookshop

Because a book-inspired candle box absolutely needed a reading list, we also included a curated selection from The Booklover Bookshop.

The idea was simple: a few books to reach for when you want something immersive, cozy or easy to disappear into for an afternoon.

If you’d like to see everything that was tucked into the Worn Pages box, I shared a full August Candle Club unboxing.

You can watch it here:

[WATCH THE WORN PAGES UNBOXING]

Two Years of Candle Club

August also marked two years of Candle Club.

When I first started sending these boxes out, I really had no idea what they would become.

Now every month has its own scent, story, Field Guide, cozy gift and little world built around the season.

Worn Pages felt like a particularly lovely box to celebrate that milestone with — quiet, nostalgic and full of the kinds of things I personally love most about winter.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of Candle Club over the last two years, whether you joined right at the beginning or only recently found us.

It still feels very special every time I see a stack of boxes ready to head out the door.

And if you’d rather never miss a collection, you can join the Candle Club waitlist here:

[JOIN THE CANDLE CLUB WAITLIST]

Worn Pages was made for winter afternoons, books with creased corners and the kind of evenings that make you forget to check the time.