Stroopwafels (Syrup Waffle Cookies)

Activate the yeast. Stir the fast-action dried yeast into the lukewarm milk and leave to rest for 5 minutes, until foamy. This confirms the yeast is active before it goes into the dough.

Make the dough. Mix the flour, caster sugar, cinnamon and salt, then rub in the butter until the mixture looks like crumbs. Add the egg and the yeasty milk, then knead briefly to a soft, smooth dough.

Rest the dough. Cover and rest the dough for 45 minutes at room temperature. The yeast here is mainly for flavour and tenderness rather than a big rise, so don't expect it to double in size.

Cook the syrup filling. In a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir the dark brown soft sugar, golden syrup, butter and cinnamon until melted. Boil without stirring to 112-115°C, the soft-ball stage, which takes about 3-5 minutes and gives the filling its chewy set. Sugar syrup at this temperature burns badly, so keep children away and never touch or taste it hot.

Cool the filling. Leave the syrup to cool for 5-10 minutes until thick but still spreadable, rewarming gently if it stiffens too much. A filling that's too thin will run out of the biscuits, while one that's too stiff won't spread evenly.

Heat the iron. Heat the stroopwafel iron on medium-high for at least 10 minutes before you start cooking. An iron that isn't fully hot will stick and won't crisp the dough properly.

Divide the dough. Divide the dough into 12 balls, each about 40g. Weighing them keeps every stroopwafel the same size, so they all cook in the same time.

Press and cook. Press one ball of dough in the hot iron for 1-2 minutes, until evenly golden and crisp all over. A good even gold colour across the whole waffle shows it's cooked through, not just browned at the pressure points.

Split and fill while hot. Immediately cut a 10cm round from the hot waffle and, while it is still hot and pliable, split it horizontally into two thin discs using the serrated knife. Spread 1 tbsp of warm filling over one cut side, top with the other disc and press together, working quickly before the waffle cools and turns too brittle to cut.

Repeat and cool. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling, cooling each finished stroopwafel on a wire rack. Rewarm the filling between batches if it starts to set.