Orange and Cashew Sugar Cookies

The only thing better than a cup of leaf tea is a cup of leaf tea accompanied by something scrumptiously saccharine. These little sugar cookies are quite lovely served alone, but are practically perfect when paired with a piping hot cup of tea or coffee. Crisp and biscuity on the outside with a slightly chewy centre they can be made with a variety of different nuts. I have used creamy cashews, which I think work beautifully with a little orange zest, but almond and lemon or hazelnut and vanilla are just two of the countless combinations at your disposal. Oh and you should get about 24 little bite-sized cookies out of the mixture.

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Baking time: 12-14 Minutes

300g Cashews (Ground as finely as you can)

250g Caster Sugar

The zest of 2 Oranges

2 Large Egg Whites

Let's begin. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Mix together the cashews, sugar and zest, then in a separate large mixing bowl whisk the egg whites until creamy in colour and frothy. Fold through the mixed dry ingredients, until you are left with a sticky dough. Break off a small amount of the dough, roll into a little ball then press out between your hands into a round. Place on the baking paper and repeat for the rest. As I mentioned above you should get about 24 out of the mixture, 12 on each tray evenly spaced apart (They will spread a little during baking). Bake in the centre of the oven for around 12-14 minutes, until golden brown then remove and leave on the tray for 15 minutes, so they can firm up. Peel each cookie from the paper and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. That's the work done, now time to enjoy them!