| 1 | Oven temperature: 180 c (350°F) beat butter and sugar with orange rind until creamy. |
| 2 | Gradually add oil and continue beating until mixture is very light and fluffy. |
| 3 | Stir in flour alternately with orange juice. |
| 4 | Knead dough lightly with hands for 1 minute. |
| 5 | Take a scant tablespoon of dough and flatten it a little. |
| 6 | Place a teaspoon of the nut filling in the centre and fold dough over to enclose filling. |
| 7 | Shape into ovals, pinching ends to a point. |
| 8 | Decorate tops with tines of fork or by crimping cookies diagonally across top in four rows with special crimper (see note), or leave them plain. |
| 9 | Place on lightly greased baking trays and bake in a moderate oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. |
| 10 | Cool on wire racks. |
| 11 | Dip in boiling syrup, four at a time, turning cookies once. |
| 12 | Leave in syrup 10 seconds in all, longer if well-soaked cookies are preferred. |
| 13 | Lift out onto a plate and leave until cool. |
| 14 | (if no nut filling is used, sprinkle tops with crushed walnuts or toasted sesame seeds and cinnamon. |
| 15 | Only those which are to be served should be dipped; store remainder in an airtight container and dip when required. |
| 16 | To make nut filling: thin honey down with orange juice and blend into remaining ingredients. |
| 17 | To make honey syrup: place ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan and stir over heat until sugar dissolves. |
| 18 | Bring to the boil and boil over moderately high heat for 10 minutes and skim. |
| 19 | Let syrup boil on a moderate heat while dipping cookies. |
| 20 | Add a little water to syrup when it thickens too much during dipping. |
| 21 | Note: icing crimpers will be familiar to many pastrycooks and cake decorators who work with icing. |
| 22 | If you don"t own a crimper (or have never seen one), have the family handyman cut a piece of tin or aluminium plate about 2.5 x 10 cm (1 x 4 inches). |
| 23 | Bend metal in half over a thin rod and cut 6 to 8 evenly spaced saw-like teeth on the narrow edges. |
| 24 | Curl the "teeth" slightly inwards. |
