Mix the flour, ground ginger, bicarbonate of soda, a pinch of salt and sugar in a bowl, then rub in the butter to make crumbs. Stir in the chopped stem ginger.

Beat together the egg and syrup, pour into the dry ingredients and stir, then knead with your hands to make a dough. Cut the dough in half and shape each piece into a thick sausage about 6cm across, making sure that the ends are straight. Wrap in cling film and chill for 20 mins. You can now freeze all or part of the dough for 2 months

Heat oven to 180°C / 160°C (fan oven) / 360°F / Gas Mark 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment. Thickly slice each sausage into 12 and put the slices on the baking sheets, spacing them well apart and reshaping any, if necessary, to make rounds. Bake for 12 mins, then leave to cool for a few mins to harden before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure that the water isnt touching the bottom of the bowl. Dip half of each cookie into the chocolate. You may need to spoon it over when you get to the final few. Decorate with a slice of ginger, if you like, and leave to set. Will keep for 1 week in an airtight container.