Fat Apple Rascals (makes about 12-15)

I'm a big fan of regional recipes and I'll be posting plenty of them during this period. When I first came across them they were called Yorkshire Tea Biscuits. They are very simple to make and seem to me to taste a bit like an apple scone. Apparently they have been made since Elizabethan times so making them also helps keep a heritage recipe alive.

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour

110g butter (finely chopped)

30g soft brown sugar

100g cooking apples (peeled, cored and cut into small pieces)

50g sultanas

3 tsp milk

3 tbsp demerara sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Rub together the flour and butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the soft brown sugar, apples, sultanas and milk and mix well.

2. Bring the dough together with your hands and knead gently. Squash into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and squash a bit more. Chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 180C and line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

4. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough as thinly as the apple pieces will allow (about 5-10mm). Cut into squares using a sharp knife and carefully put them on the trays about 3cm apart.

5. Mix the demerara sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle generously over every square. Bake for about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool on the baking trays.