Gingernuts

My sister Carol used to make these for me when I was a child. I loved the raw mixture as much as the finished biscuit. I was at her house in Devon last week so I went through her recipe books til I found this.

All measurements are "level" unless otherwise mentioned.

Ginger Biscuits

Heat the oven to 200C, 400F, Gas Mark 6.

• 4oz plain flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 2oz butter
• 2 oz castor sugar
• 1 heaped tablespoon of golden syrup

1. Sift the dry ingredients together, add the butter and "rub-in"- this can easily be done in a food processor or mixer as you don't need the same light touch you would for pastry.
2. Add the sugar and mix in.
3. Warm the syrup in a small pan over a low heat until it is runny. Add to the mixture and stir in until you have a soft dough.
4. Shape in to a sausage and cut into 16 equal pieces (this is easy to do, halve the sausage, halve the two pieces etc. until you have 16 pieces).
   
5. Roll each piece into a ball, dip into a saucer of castor sugar ( golden sugar or flavoured sugar would be lovely at this point), and put on to a large greased baking tray (they spread so make it large).
6. Bake for 15 minutes.