Caramel Ginger Cookies

Place the butter and sugar in a saucepan, and melt together over a low heat. You just need the sugar to dissolve in the melted butter—you do not need to cook the butter and sugar, as the molasses gives it a nice caramel taste. Set the mix aside to cool.

Beat the egg in a small bowl.

When the butter and sugar mix has cooled, pour it into a large mixing bowl. Add the beaten egg and mix well. Sift in the flour, baking powder and ginger, and mix to a soft dough.

Shape the dough into a sausage inside some cling film or greaseproof paper, about 2 inches (5 cm) diameter, and chill for an hour in the freezer, or overnight in the fridge.

When your dough is chilled, slice the log of dough into 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) slices, and arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or greaseproof paper.

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 15-20 minutes until golden and set but not browned.

Cool on the tray for five minutes, to harden, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling. These are quite crisp cookie, not chewy. (Which makes them very good for the English tradition of dunking—dip the biscuit, as we call it, into hot tea, then eat quickly.)

This dough keeps well in the freezer, and can be sliced from frozen with a sharp serated knife and cooked straight from the freezer. Allow slightly longer cooking time for frozen dough.