Today was the longest day ever made. At least in the last ten weeks. An infant solstice of sorts. The day just kept going. Peace has thankfully returned, for now, and so let us all take this time to eat biscuits.

I was given a very pretty cookbook a few years back, it’s by Dan Lepard (Short and Sweet) and it’s very good. Most all of the recipes contain something a bit odd or a combination of things you perhaps hadn’t considered. The major flaw, however, is the lack of photos. I am bitterly lacking in confidence when it comes to pictureless recipes that are without a reference. Nonetheless I needed something new and I am a fiend for an auld spiced biscuit.

The sesame is a peculiar but successful addition. I normally think of sesame as the preserve of the savoury courses but they give a charming nuttiness without the unpleasant texture of a whole nut. I’ve made hardly any changes to the original recipe; light instead of dark muscavado being the main one.

The trickiest part of this recipe is the handling of the fecking treacle, other than that it only takes a few minutes to whip up and you’ll finish with about 15 lovely biscuits.

Oven Temperature 180 degrees Celsius

Butter                                   125g

Light muscavado sugar       50g

Egg yolk                                1

Treacle                                  2 tablespoons

Plain flour                             175g

Bicarbonate of soda             1/2 teaspoon

Baking powder                     1 teaspoon

Ground ginger                     2 teaspoons

Mixed spice                          2 teaspoons

Dates                                     175g

Sesame seeds                       a handful or so

Preheat the oven and line two baking trays with baking parchment. Boil the kettle and when it’s finished fill up a narrow, tall glass with the water and pop your metal tablespoon into it.

Place the butter, sugar and egg yolk into a mixing bowl and beat to combine.

Get your newly hot tablespoon and spoon two tablespoons of treacle into the butter mix. Beat some more.

Add the flour, soda, baking powder and spices into the treacley-butter mix and use a wooden spoon to combine.

Chop your dates into small, pea-sized pieces and throw them into the mix too. I ditched the spoon at this stage and just used my hands to incorporate the dates and to form a smooth dough.

Spread your sesame seeds on a dinner plate.

Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of the biscuit mix, with your hands, and then flatten them down into the sesame seeds so they are coated on one side. Place the biscuits onto the prepared trays, sesame seed side up, and put them into the oven.

They take between 15 – 20mins and are delicious.