Autumn weekends I

A Northamptonshire weekend just as the air began to feel cooler, and the leaves began to turn. The structurally beautiful arches in St Pancras, leaving the capital past the canal and buildings and glimpses into other people's back gardens. Endless cups of tea. Nigel Slater's double hazelnut cookies, made with hazelnut butter AND toasted hazelnuts, so crumbly and nutty and delicious. An afternoon at the rugby, chips, cider, and a win. Walking with the dogs, blackberries in the hedgerows, teasels by the lake, geese.

A recipe reproduced below for my cookie of choice so far this autumn. I have taken them to WI meetings, to my colleagues at work, served them for dessert crumbled over Green & Blacks vanilla caramel nut ice-cream. They are so good.

Nigel Slater's Hazelnut Cookies, from Tender II

100g butter at room temp

50g light muscovado sugar

50g golden caster sugar

60g toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

100g hazelnut butter (this is like peanut butter but with hazelnuts - I find mine in Health Food Shops)

100g plain flour

half tsp bicarbonate of soda

half tsp baking powder

Set the oven at 190 degrees centigrade.

Cut the butter into chunks and cream with the sugars for several minutes until very pale and smooth. Mix in the nut butter and most of the chopped hazelnuts.

Mix in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder, stirring gently to form a soft dough. Spoon heaped tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment (no need to flatten). Scatter over the remaining hazelnuts and bake for 12-14 minutes, until the biscuits are pale gold and just dry on top. Remove from the oven and let them cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack.

Makes about 12