MATILDA, THE BISCUIT.

I baked a batch of biscuits and called them Matildas. Because they’re winners.

“Sugar ’n spice and all things nice”, says the old nursery rhyme. “That’s what little girls are made of”.

Yeah, well, not really. Just look at those Matildas. That’s what little girls are made of. Guts and intelligence and generosity and skill and sportswomanship. Whether the Australian women’s national football team wins goals or not is almost immaterial. They’re winning already.

So in honour of the ’tildas, I baked some biscuits; the irony being that they’re made of sugar and spice and all things nice. But they’re also crisp, tough and spicy. And they’ll last. Just like their namesake.

A note: This recipe started as a craving for gingernut snaps, then segued into something with more spice. Then I had a bit of an obsession about cinnamon sugar and wondered how good cinnamon sugar would be with sea salt in it (reporting back: so good), and then it all came together by the final siren.

No, they’re not perfect. They’re made by hand. They’re artisanal.

MATILDA BISCUITS

And if they say I can’t name a biscuit after them, I will call these Girl Biscuits instead. As in, made of sugar and spice.

• 250 g plain flour

• 1 tbsp ground ginger

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• Half tsp mixed spice

• Good pinch of sea salt

• 125 g brown sugar

• 125 g butter, chopped

• 3 tbsp golden syrup

• 1 scant tsp bicarbonate of soda

Heat oven to 180C.

Sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice and sea salt into a bowl and make a well in the middle.

Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a pan, stirring, until sugar has melted.

Remove from the heat, count 60 seconds, then and add bicarb, stirring as it froths up.

Pour the hot mixture into the flour, and bring it together with a spatula until there are no streaks of flour.

Use a teaspoon to scoop up a portion of dough, and roll into a ball in your hands. Place on a tray lined with baking paper, allowing a little room for spreading.

Press down lightly to flatten (see tip).

Bake for 10 to 11 minutes until golden.

Cool on a wire rack, before storing in an airtight container. Makes 25 (x 20g).

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Tip: Use a hot spoon for the Golden Syrup, and it will slip off easily.

Tip: For evenly sized biscuits, weigh each portion before rolling. I did 20 grams for small (same as a Gingernut Snap), 25 grams for medium (same as a Butternut Snap).

Tip: If the warm dough is a bit soft to handle, chuck it into the fridge to firm up for 10 minutes.

Tip: The best way to flatten biscuits on a tray is to take a small square of baking paper, place it on top of each biscuit, and press down with the base of a water glass to flatten.  Using your fingers is too uneven, and using anything without the baking paper risks the dough adhering to the presser.

Tip: Why do I specify 10 to 11 minutes? Because it depends how you like your biscuits. The longer they bake, the crisper they will be. Take them out at 10 minutes when they are still slightly soft, and they will harden as they cool into something firm and chewy. Or leave them in another minute if you like them shatteringly crisp. Depends which team you’re on.

Tip: Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top! It’s like bringing on Sam Kerr. (Once I get a metaphor in my hands, I can run with it all day). The perfect ratio is 1 tbsp granulated sugar to 1 tsp cinnamon + good pinch of sea salt. Mix it up and  sprinkle a little on top of each biscuit before baking.

The cinnamon sugar melts into the biscuit but you still get a bit of extra crunch. And now you have cinnamon sugar, for the weekend’s hot buttered toast. Goal!

Thanks for dropping by! And as always, thanks for your comments. Special thanks to Terry for dutifully testing each stage of biscuit at 10 mins, then 11 mins, then with and without cinnamon sugar (and even the ones tested at 190C), then re-testing, and testing again.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s only fair, folks.