Bake these grown-up gingerbread biscuits, spiced with black pepper and stem ginger. They're perfect after dinner with an iced shot of limoncello or a hot toddy

• Preparation and cooking time
  • Prep:20 mins
  • Cook:15 mins
  • Plus 1 hour chilling
• Easy
• Makes 24

• Freezable (uncooked dough only)
• Vegetarian

Ingredients

• 175g butter, softened
• 85g dark muscovado sugar
• 1½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 lemon, zested and 3-4 tsp juice
• 225g plain flour
• 50g candied lemon peel (or a mix of lemon and orange)
• 50g stem ginger, chopped into small chunks
• 100g icing sugar

Method

• STEP 1

  Mix the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon. Stir in the spices, lemon zest and flour, then tip in the candied lemon peel and stem ginger – you might need to get your hands in to bring the mix together as a dough. Divide the dough in two and shape each half into a log about 5cm across. Wrap in cling film, then chill for 1 hr. You can freeze the unbaked dough for up to three months.

• STEP 2

  Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Slice the logs into 1cm-thick rounds, place on two baking trays lined with baking parchment and bake for 12-15 mins. Leave to cool completely on the tray.

• STEP 3

  Mix the lemon juice with the icing sugar to make a thin glaze. Brush over the biscuits and leave to set. Will keep for three days in an airtight container.