There’s something about the smell of freshly baked biscuits and toasted nuts that makes these biscuits to die for. They are ridiculously simple to make and you’ll be surprised that such a small quantity of dough will make a huge batch of biscuits, so these are great for parties or giving as gifts for friends’ birthdays or even, and I dare mention the word in the middle of October, Christmas presents!

The dough freezes incredibly well so I’ve bulked up the recipe to include just 1 egg. I’ve never been one to weigh eggs but very few people would wish to weigh out 13g of egg, so I’ve quadrupled the recipe so that one whole egg is used. If you ever needed an excuse to get baking, just take out the dough, cut into biscuits and bake!

The toasted flavour of the nuts really comes through and it resembles the biscotti I’ve made already (you can find them clicking here)! The recipe requires them to be toasted before they are added to the dough. The first time I made them, the butter began to melt from the heat of the almonds and the dough began very tricky to shape. You will need to work quickly to shape the dough into a roughish cylinder and get it into the freezer straight away – the dough needs to be hard so you can cut it into the squares. Even so you can still shape the dough while it’s cooling down into the desired shape.

200g soft unsalted butter or Stork

88g caster or granulated sugar

1 whole medium egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

300g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

140g whole almonds, skin on

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C. Bake the almonds for 8-10 minutes until they are warm; do not burn them however. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. In a bowl, beat together the Stork/softened butter until it is slightly paler in colour.
3. Add the whole egg and vanilla and beat until it is thoroughly combined.
4. Sift in the self-raising flour and baking powder and using a spatula, fold until it is mixed and comes together to form one ball of dough.
5. Throw in the almonds and work the almonds lightly into the dough. This can be added with the flour in step 4. Divide the dough into 4 portions.
6. On a lightly floured work surface, knead and shape the dough into 4 long cylinders. Place each cylinder onto a sheet of baking parchment and using the parchment (and maybe another pair of hands), shape the dough into an even cylinder. Repeat for all 4 cylinders and chill until the dough is hardened or until you need to use it.
7. When you decide to bake the biscuits, preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a couple of baking trays with parchment paper.
8. Using a serrated knife, or very sharp knife, cut out 8mm thick slices of the dough, placing them on the baking tray with a slight space between them; I managed to fit 36 on a tray!
9. Bake for 11 – 13 minutes until they turn just a slight golden brown around the edges. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool fully.
10. Wrap up 5 of them in a decorated cellophane bag and tie with ribbon for an attractive gift. I sourced them from my local pound shop!