I am sceptical about anything that bills itself as “perfect.” After all, my idea of perfect will inevitably differ from yours at some point (if, for example, you prefer the most recent remake of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to the BBC version, we’re definitely fighting now) but these cookies are, actually, perfect for dunking. They will not fall apart in your tea. They will not become strangely swollen or chewy, and they will leave behind them (as promised in the original recipe) a faintly honeyed note in your tea. Since this is the case, do choose your tea carefully: a black tea with a little milk is lovely here. Do not, for goodness’ sake, serve these with coffee

This recipe comes from Justin Gellatly’s Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding and is really lovely. I’ve tweaked the recipe according to my own preferences, and am listing the ingredients here in imperial rather than metric. Mr Gellatly uses honey in his recipe in addition to the golden syrup, but as I love the slightly darker, truly British flavour golden syrup imparts, I’ve opted to leave the honey out.

The Perfect Dunking Biscuit

3/4 cup jumbo oats

2 tbsp icing sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp golden syrup

1 1/2 tbsp whole milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking tray with parchment.

Mix the oats and icing sugar together in a small bowl and put them on to the prepared baking tray, spreading them evenly in one layer.

Toast them for 12-14 minutes, stirring every few minutes or until evenly golden brown, then leave until cold.

Give the softened butter a good stir, then combine with all the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until the mix forms a ball. Put it into the fridge to chill for an hour.

Take the dough out of the fridge and leave it to soften for an hour or more, depending on the weather. You want it to get soft enough to roll, but not so soft it gets sticky.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and line two large baking trays with parchment.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out your mix to about 1/4 inch thick and cut it into squares or rectangles. Justin recommends rectangles about 3cm by 6cm, but really, so long as they’re in that ballpark they’ll be just fine. Place them on the prepared baking trays (Use a thin spatula here) and bake for 15 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. Do let them brown properly; they’re all the lovelier for the nuttiness a little extra browning imparts.

Leave them on the trays to cool for 5 minutes, then put them on a rack to cool the rest of the way. (Pro tip: the cooling time is perfect for making tea.)