Homemade cookies were not really a big part of my childhood. My mom was more into creating fancy whipped jello molds and elaborate gingerbread villages.

So, it was boxed cookies for me and my siblings. For special occasions my mom bought Peak Frean Playbox Cookies. They were iced cookies with beautiful colours and designs. For everyday, we loved Dad’s Oatmeal Cookies, Oreo and Arrowroot baby cookies. I am one of 6 children, so there were always babies in the house! My very favourite cookies were Nice biscuits.

I was craving them recently, but couldn’t find them at the grocery store. So, I did what any sane person would do, and decided to make my own. A quick online search led me to Martha Collinson’s blog. I knew that her copycat version would be a great place to start. Martha was a contestant on The Great British Bake Off in 2014. As the youngest ever contestant to date, aged just 17, she managed to make it all the way to the quarter-finals!

I slightly adapted Martha’s recipe by adding some lime zest to the dough.

I wanted that trademark fluted edge so I busted out my fluted pastry cutter. I bought it when I was in cooking school in the last century, and this was my first time using it! As a nod to Valentine’s Day, I cut out little hearts.

Tender with a crunchy bite, these cookies took me right back to my childhood. The lime zest added a welcome hit of slight acidity and they smelled amazing.