Method

• 1.
  Preheat oven to 170°C.
• 2.
  Melt treacle and butter in a small saucepan. Sift flour, soda, cinnamon and ginger in a bowl.
• 3.
  Add a good pinch of salt and a grinding of black pepper. Stir in sugar and the treacle mixture, then add the egg and beat until combined.

• 4.
  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out on a lightly floured surface and use decorative cutters (we used star shapes) to cut shapes from the pastry.
• 5.
  Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool. (To use biscuits as a gift decoration, use a wooden skewer to make a hole in each biscuit before baking.)
• 6.
  As soon as the biscuits come out of the oven re-open where the indent for the hole is by again using the skewer.
• 7.
  When cool, thread ribbon through hole and use to decorate gifts.