Gingerbread Cookies

Crisp, chewy and spiced, these are the perfect thing to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Ingredients

120g butter, softened

1.5 tbsp black treacle (or molasses)

170g soft light brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

200g flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cloves

3 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

Golden caster sugar (for rolling)

Method:

Beat together the butter, treacle, sugar and salt until fluffy. Beat in the egg.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and spices. Add to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing until combined. Chill the dough for an hour or so to firm up.

Roll the dough into 20 even balls.

At this stage, the balls can be frozen or baked straightaway. To freeze, place the balls on a parchment-lined baking tray and freeze until solid. Transfer to a freezer bag and freeze until needed.

To bake, preheat your oven to 200C / 180C Fan / 400F. Roll the balls in the caster sugar and place on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for 11 minutes, or an extra minute or two if frozen. Let cool on the tray for a couple minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Tip: Dough balls should be properly chilled before baking. Too warm and they’ll spread out too much.