Ginger Nuts

When someone is referred to as a 'tough cookie', ginger nuts are my go-to mental reference. Also known as a ginger snap, ginger nuts have been enjoyed in Britain since the 1840s, while in New Zealand it's estimated that 60 million ginger nuts are produced every year. So to say this is a perennial favourite is something of an understatement. But why ginger nut? It's an abbreviation of gingerbread nut, which gives you an idea of its original size and shape.

One of the hardest cookies out there, their unique texture comes from not using any liquids in the mixture. Nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice add a wrinkle to the robust ginger flavour, while using treacle instead of golden syrup gives an extra rich bitter note. Dropping in some chopped-up crystallised ginger is the secret ingredient - you'll get little hits of fiery sweetness scattered throughout the mixture.

I'm a fan of ginger nuts that have a chewy, fudgy centre to accompany the traditional crunch, so I've only included brown sugar below. You can ramp up the snap by making it a caster sugar/brown sugar blend and tweak the ratio to your desired balance. Altering the baking time will also give you a texture from a soft-ish gingerbread to something you could have got in trouble back in the day for throwing at a younger sibling.