This is a basic recipe that could be changed many times. Try using walnuts (not roasted or skinned) or almonds instead of hazelnuts or golden syrup in place of the maple syrup.

Oven at 170°C

120g skinned roasted hazelnuts
225g butter, at room temperature
50g golden caster sugar or light muscovado sugar
50ml maple syrup
250g plain flour
A pinch of salt
20g whole hazelnuts, crushed
A pinch of Demerara sugar

Ready skinned and roasted hazelnuts can be bought but, if you need to roast the skinned hazelnuts, place them on a baking tray in a hot oven (200°C) for about six minutes, checking and shaking them around so that they become evenly coloured. They only need to be lightly roasted.

When cool, crush the hazelnuts in a food processor. They need to be a little coarser than ground almonds.

In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sugar until pale and smooth. Gradually add the maple syrup. Add the flour and salt, sieved, and the ground hazelnuts. Mix well.

Halve the dough and, using just a little flour, roll it into two sausage shapes about 26 cm long. Wrap these in greaseproof paper and leave in the refrigerator for at least an hour. This is important.

Unwrap the dough and cut each roll into about 20 slices. Set well apart on a lined baking sheet (you may need to cook these biscuits in batches) and sprinkle with a few crushed hazelnuts and a sprinkling of Demerara sugar pressed into the dough.

Bake for about 20 minutes and leave to cool for a few minutes before using a palette knife or thin spatula to lift them onto a rack to cool off further.

These biscuits freeze well and don’t need much more time than a kettle takes to boil to be ready to serve to unexpected guests.