Caramel cookies

Method

• step 1

  To make the honeycomb, line a shallow tray or tin with baking paper or a silicone baking mat then brush over a little oil. Put the sugar and golden syrup into a deep, heavy-bottomed pan, and stir over a gentle heat for a few minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer until the syrup turns a dark gold and smells of caramel. Remove the pan from the heat, add the bicarb and quickly stir in with a wooden spoon until no white streaks remain. The mixture will bubble up and turn a pale gold. Pour into the oiled, paper-lined tin but don’t spread or you’ll squash the bubbles. Leave for 30 minutes to cool completely.

• step 2

  Put the butter and sugars into a big mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Beat in the golden syrup, yolks and vanilla with a pinch of salt for a further minute, then tip in the flour and bicarb and work in with a wooden spoon. Use your hands to form into a smooth dough, then put in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes.

• step 3

  Lightly dust a sheet of baking paper with flour and roll out the dough on it to a 24cm x 40cm rectangle, about 4mm thick. Turn the honeycomb out onto a chopping board and use a rolling pin to break half of it into shards. Put those shards between more sheets of baking paper and bash to fine crumbs. Scatter the crumbs over the dough as you go until you have an patchy, even-depth covering over the whole sheet. Save the other half of the honeycomb for snacking or for topping ice cream, if you like.

• step 4

  Lift one of the shorter sides of the dough and roll it up into a tight spiral until you have a sausage. Roll the sausage loosely in the baking paper and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

• step 5

  Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line some baking sheets with more baking paper. Take the dough from the fridge and slice it into 5mm-wide cookies, spacing out on baking sheets as you go. If your knife sticks to the dough at all, lightly flour it before continuing. Bake the cookies for 6 8 minutes or until they are golden and the honeycomb is bubbling and has turned a darker caramel colour. Remove and cool completely before eating.