So named because they’re made only with things that I generally have in the cupboard, these biscuits are easy to make and so good to eat. When I was planning the recipe I considered using fresh or crystallised ginger, but sometimes the simple things really are the best (and meant I didn’t need to go shopping). I had treacle in after making my bonfire treacle tart last month, but if you don’t have any you can use an extra 25g of golden syrup.

Ingredients (makes 24):
– 75g butter
– 75g demerara sugar
– 50g golden syrup
– 25g black treacle
– 225g plain flour
– ½tsp bicarbonate of soda
– 3tsp ground ginger
– ½tsp cinnamon
– ½tsp allspice

1. Heat the oven to 180°C and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or baking parchment.

2. In a large saucepan, gently melt the butter, sugar, golden syrup and treacle together. Turn off the heat, and, in a separate bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. Stir into the syrup pan to form a dough.

3. Lightly flour your hands and use your palms to roll pieces of the dough into balls about the size of a fifty pence piece. Arrange 12 of the balls onto the baking sheet, leaving as much room between them as you can (if you prefer you can use a second tray and cook them all at once, but I prefer to do them in two batches to ensure a more even bake).

4. Use a fork to slightly squash the dough balls – if you like you can also sprinkle them with some extra demerara sugar. Transfer them to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.

5. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack and allow to cool before eating (they’re particularly good when dunked into a cup of tea).

Tip: the easiest way to measure the syrup and treacle is to weigh the whole pot and note how the weight decreases.