By Keighley’s Mike Armstrong, an award-winning master baker with a big passion for baking...

IF the mass-produced variety of fig rolls has put you off eating them, then bake these sticky pastries yourself for a true taste of nostalgia.

This week's recipe comes after a good root through my kitchen cupboards found me holding a large bag of luscious dried figs.

I knew instantly that I had to make some figs rolls, one of my dad's teatime favourites, found in their iconic red packaging, that would often appear in the biscuit barrel when I was growing up.

The lesser individual is inclined to turn up their nose, but the sound fellow will exclaim – through a shower of buttery crumbs – ''oh, but I love fig rolls''.

While the American cookies go from strength to strength, this deliciously sticky, crumbly biscuit is becoming an increasingly niche taste.

I can only surmise that the mass-produced variety has put people off – if so, consider this recipe my personal crusade to convert you readers and internet clickers.

Let's consider the fig. Well, it has certainly been around for a while, you only have to look at Adam and Eve's underwear selection. It's mentioned in the sacred texts of most religions including Buddhism and Islam. You don't see the raspberry or banana mentioned so much, so the fig clearly requires respect.

Fig rolls are one of those biscuits that divide opinion. They have a Marmite 'love them or hate them' quality. Dare I say it, they tend to appeal to those of a more mature age! I know for one thing my tastebuds have changed over the years and figs are one fruit that has only recently joined the long list of foods I like. They may even be a 'dad thing' as I got older.

There is some dispute as to whether a fig roll is a cake or biscuit, but in the UK, fig paste is encased in an enriched sweet pastry and chopped into small flattened rectangles. This makes it a member of the biscuit family in my book. Plus you'll find them in the biscuit aisle of any supermarket and not the cake aisle.

In my house, you don't have to take your shoes off. You can leave the loo seat down. But if you walk around eating a fig roll without a plate, then we will be having words. Anyway, there's no time to waste, let's get to it and bake!

RECIPE

FIG ROLLS

Makes 16

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

125g/4 1/2oz butter, softened

75g/3oz icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg yolk

200g/7oz plain flour

For the filling:

200g/7oz soft semi-dried figs

50g/2oz stem ginger

1 lemon, finely grated zest and juice

1 tablespoon of brandy or rum, optional

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Finely chop the figs and gently heat with the stem ginger, lemon zest, juice, rum and cinnamon until reduced down, then blend to a smooth sticky past. Allow to cool.

3. Beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla until light and creamy, then beat in the egg yolk and fold in the flour to form a soft dough. Chill for 30 minutes.

4. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and roll out into a large rectangle, trim off the edges then cut in half lengthways.

5. Spoon the fig paste down the middle of the pastry, egg wash one side and fold over the filling so the join is on the underside.

6. Cut each roll into 8 pieces and place an indent on the tops with a fork, egg wash and bake for around 25 minutes until pale golden and set. Allow to cool before dusting with icing sugar to serve.