Maple Walnut Cookies Recipe by Jeremy Lee

While visiting Los Angeles a long time ago, I ate at Campanile, founded by Nancy Silverton and Mark Peel. The food was delicious, as was their La Brea bakery, as did this flagship restaurant books, a testament to the excellent shopping, cooking and dining. Nancy is famous for her cooking, and these cookies are inspired by her recipes.

Cracking nuts for these cute cookies is charming but not essential. As a general rule, the paler the walnut, the better. Served with an ice cream, or a fool, with a coffee or a glass of Madeira, or with a teapot in bed and a really good book, these cookies are a hit – always.

Makes 48 biscuitsunsalted butter 230g, at room temperature caster sugar 100gvanilla pod ½, split and seeds scrapedfreshest organic egg yolk 1maple syrup 2 tbsp plain flour 275g, sifted , plus extra for sprinkling walnuts 150g

Coarsely cut the butter into pieces and cream it in the blender until it whitens. Add the sugar and the vanilla seeds and continue to mix until everything whitens again. Add egg yolk and maple syrup. Roast the nuts for 5-10 minutes in the hot oven, let cool and roughly chop. Turn off the oven.

Add the flour and chopped walnuts to the butter mixture and mix until a dough forms. Knead it skillfully and quickly on a lightly floured surface.

Once the dough has formed, form a cylinder about 30 cm long and 5-6 cm wide. Cut in half and roll each half in a sheet of parchment paper, twisting the ends as for a large candy.

Refrigerate at least 30 minutes (if desired, one of the halves can be frozen for another time).

Reheat the oven to 160 C fan/thermostat 4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Since they are best eaten fresh, slice and cook only what is necessary, then wrap, store and return to the refrigerator. Cut into 3mm thick slices and arrange them in tight rows on the lined baking sheet.

Place in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool on a rack.

From Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many by Jeremy Lee (HarperCollins, £30)