Pepper Cookies

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ⅛ tsp paprika
• 250g soft brown sugar
• 125g butter, softened
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Method

Add the butter and rub it through the flour mixture with your fingers until it becomes completely combined and sandy in texture.

Add the beaten egg and work in to form a dough. If the mixture seems too dry and doesn’t want to come together, you’ll have to crack another egg and add some more beaten egg, a little at a time. You may only need half the egg.

Wrap the dough in some cling film and put it in the fridge overnight to firm up.

Preheat the oven to Gas 6 / 200C / 400F

To roll out the dough, place a large piece of baking paper on your work surface and lightly dust with flour, put a quarter of the dough on it and place another sheet of baking paper over the top, now roll out quite thinly. Peel back the paper and use a cutter to cut into cookies shapes. Use a cutter that you think will be slightly smaller than you need as the dough spreads as it heats up in the oven.

Carefully peel off the cut pieces and place on to a flat, lightly greased, non-stick baking sheet. The cookies need to be well spaced to allow for them to grow.
Repeat with the other three pieces of dough and continue to bake in batches.

Bake for approximately 7 minutes until dark brown. Using a spatula, transfer to a wire rack to cool.