Gipsy Creams
After a brief internet search, I discovered that McVities’ Gipsy Creams were discontinued at least 10 years ago. So I can’t do a side by side comparison to see if this recipe is supposed to be a copy or if it’s just a similarly named biscuit.
There is some debate over the spelling of Gipsy – either with a ‘y’ or an ‘i’. My recipe, and images of McVities biscuit wrappers, spell it with an ‘i’. Either way, I wouldn’t choose to name a biscuit a ‘Gipsy Cream’ these days. But as these are retro recipes, I have kept the name as it stands.
Gipsy Creams are a sweet, oat biscuit, sandwiched together with buttercream. And although the cookies are tasty on their own, the buttercream does make them tastier. Everything’s better with buttercream! Or is that sprinkles?
My recipe suggested using chocolate buttercream. So for research purposes I tried with both a vanilla and a chocolate buttercream filling. Mr Traybakes and Little Miss Traybakes were my official taste testers and failed to come up with a definitive winner. So, go with whatever flavor you prefer.
Now, as with any recipe, the bake time for your biscuits will depend on the size of your biscuits. I made these with a small cookie/ice-cream scoop that was about 2 tsp worth of mixture and I got 32 biscuits total (so 16 when you pair them up). Those took about 10 minutes to cook.
I have also made them with about 1.5 tbsp of mixture. That time I got 14 cookies from the dough (so, 7 sandwich biscuits) and they took about 14 minutes to bake. So, keep an eye on them as they cook and adjust your times accordingly. They are ready once they are nice and golden.
The biscuits will still be a little puffy and soft when you remove them from the oven, but will firm up when they have cooled. Just leave them on the baking sheet for a minute or two before you transfer them to a cooling rack.
The biscuits will go a little softer after a day, especially because of the buttercream filling, although they still taste great!
Gipsy Creams
Ingredients
- 2 oz or 55g butter softened
- 2 oz or 55g lard or vegetable shortening
- 3 oz or 85g sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 1 tbsp boiling water
- 4 oz or 110g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 2 oz or 55g porridge oats
- ½ tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F/160C (conventional oven).
- Cream the butter, lard/shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the syrup, boiling water and vanilla and mix well.
- Add all the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
- Roll into small balls (about 2 tsp of dough in each). This should make about 32 individual biscuits. Place on a lined baking sheet. Leave plenty of room, as they will spread as they bake.
- Bake at 325F/160C for approximately 10 minutes or until golden.
- Leave on the baking tray for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- When cool, sandwich together with buttercream. I made my buttercream with 55g butter/110g icing sugar/1 tbsp milk/¼ tsp vanilla. Add 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder if you opt for a chocolate filling.
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13 Comments
Avril
Wow – a lovely reminder (again!) of child hood days – we loved gypsy creams and I haven’t had them for years … so you’ve put me in the notion of making them. We sandwiched them together with just plain chocolate – it worked well too – but anything tasty in the middle goes!! I’m so enjoying your blogs … and reminiscing over many of the recipes we made years ago. I tried your Smores – success :-)!!!!! So yummy!
CJ
Thank you!
Dave Purcell
The gipsy creams I remember were two biscuits with a marshmallow filling and they were delicately spiced
Deirdre Nelson
Hi, my dad loves,loves, loves gipsy creams. Good north Antrim stock! Your recipe is pretty similar to mine although I sandwich mine with coffee buttercream, pipe a blob on top and stick a walnut piece on it. Yummy goodness indeed.
CJ
Yum! I love coffee buttercream. Great filling for a Gipsy Cream too.
Jennie
How many balls of dough did you divide the mixture into?
CJ
I made 26 out of this (so 13 sandwich biscuits in the end) but you can make them as large or as small as you’d like!
Jennie
Thanks, I have made a batch! Remember them from my childhood when my mum would sandwich them together with lurid green or pink buttercream. Delicious!
Gill
These are really tasty, but having tried a couple of times now, they do not seem to be crunchy – they are more like a soft cookie. Any suggestions?
CJ
That’s an tricky one. It might just be an oven thing. Perhaps try baking a little longer at a slightly lower temperature?
Joni
I thought gypsy creams had ginger in the biscuit… am i wrong?
CJ
This version doesn’t. But there’s nothing to stop you adding some if that’s the way you prefer it!
Long
EXCELLENT! I made the recipe exactly as written and they were beyond my expectations. Everyone loved them! Thank you so much!