This is home baking at its most simple and straight forward. These biscuits are made from inexpensive ingredients that you are likely to already have at home. Making these gingernuts helped to remind me that baking doesn’t need to be complicated, use flashy ingredients or be particularly excessive. A simple batch of homemade biscuits really doesn’t take much time and will be enthusiastically devoured by flatmates and colleagues, or just keep them for yourself as a wee treat to have with coffee at morning tea time.

Wanaka gingernuts (Lois Daish, Listener, August 29 1998)

100g butter

225g sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon golden syrup

250g flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons ground ginger

Preheat oven to 170°C (I prefer not to use fan bake) and line a flat baking with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and golden syrup. Beat again and then added the sifted dry ingredients (important to sift to ensure no lumps of baking soda). Roll the dough into balls (about 20g makes a good size of biscuit) and place onto the baking tray with space for the biscuits to spread; don’t press the biscuits down. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown; keep a close eye on them from the 20 minute mark.