Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper (you may need one more sheet, depending on how big your sheets are!).

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until soft and fluffy using the dough hook.

Add the flour, eggs, spices and baking powder and mix until the ingredients come together to form a smooth dough. (If you are making these in winter your dough might be nice and stiff; if you find it too sticky pop it in the fridge for half an hour to firm up).

Form the dough into a ball and then divide into four equal pieces with a knife.

Taking one quarter of the mixture, roll it out into a long sausage about the width of your finger (depending on how wide it is it should give you a sausage of about 50-55cms long).

Using a sharp knife, slice the sausages into little pieces the width of your finger.

Roll each piece into a tiny ball and place on the baking sheet, giving it the lightest press with the tip of your finger as you go (this stops them rolling about!).

Bake in the centre of the oven for 8 to 12 minutes depending on how fierce your cooker is. They should be pale golden brown on top and slightly darker underneath; it won’t hurt them if you keep opening the door to check!

These dear little cookies will theoretically last for months in a tin, but in our experience you’ve got about three hours before they have all disappeared! The recipe scales up beautifully; why not set up a production line and make a double (or even triple) batch and pack them into pretty jars as a lovely edible home-made gift idea?).