Sometimes there is only one thing that will do – dunking a gingerbread man in a hot cup of tea.

This recipe is adapted from my mother’s recipe. Like all my cooking it can be open to interpretatin depending on your mood – the last batch I made included Allspice as well as cinnamon and ginger.

12oz plain flour
1 level teaspoon bicarb of soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger – I always double this though to 4
4oz Butter – regular, make sure it’s a bit soft
6oz soft brown sugar – this is important, this is what makes it taste good and unlike other gingerbread, change to golden caster for a lighter one, soft dark brown sugar or soft light sugar also give different results – all good.
4 tablespoons golden syrup
1 egg

1. Sift flour, bicarb and ginger together – if you want to add other spices (cinnemon, all spice, nutmeg) do this now too – be creative people. your kitchen should smell of Christmas at this point

2. Rub in butter, add sugar

3. Warm the syrup / put hte can in a pan of hot water and add with the egg to make a dough

4. Shape! Makes about 20 cookies or one gingerbread house

5. Cook for 10-12 minutes at 190C on greased baking sheets

If they end up too hard that’s because they were a tad thin, but these are perfect for eating with a cup of tea!