I’m going out to New York for Thanksgiving and taking these biscuits with me. Coals to Newcastle? I know that Yotam Ottolenghi’s Sweet book, from where this recipe originates, is a best seller in the US and cranberries are really their thing but these biscuits are delicious and very festive. They would make a good present for Thanksgiving or Christmas, wrapped in film and tied with a ribbon.

150g whole almonds, skin on
150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
75g wholemeal flour
150g rolled oats
Pinch of salt
225g butter at room temperature, cut into chunks
100g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
125g dried cranberries, chopped
25ml of orange juice
250g white chocolate

Oven at 180°C

Soak the dried cranberries in 25ml of orange juice

Spread the almonds on a baking tray and toast in a hot oven (180-190°C) for 10 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, chop them into pieces, preferably by hand as a processor can be hard to control.

Put the almonds into a large bowl together with the flours, oats and salt.

Beat the butter, sugar and orange zest until light. Add the almonds etc and continue mixing, by hand or using a food processor, until the dough comes together. Add the cranberries and orange juice.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured board, sprinkling more flour over the dough if needed. Cut the dough in half. Cover one half in clingfilm and leave in the fridge. Roll out the second to just over 0.5cm thick and, using a 7cm cutter, cut into rounds.

Transfer the rounds to a baking tray lined with baking parchment and bake for about 18 minutes (while you roll and cut out biscuits using the second half of dough). Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

When the second batch of biscuits is cooked and cool, break the white chocolate into a bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir gently until melted. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. Coat the biscuits in chocolate using the back of a dessert spoon. Keep the biscuits apart until the chocolate is set. This can take some time.