Gypsy Creams

Make the biscuits

1. Prepare a couple of baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, add the room-temperature butter and caster sugar.
3. Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy, around 2-3 minutes.
4. Combine the vanilla extract, golden syrup and boiled water with the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Beat for approximately 1 minute until well combined.
5. In a bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Use a fork to mix them together, then add them to the creamed butter mixture.
6. Next, add the oats to the mixture as well.
7. Mix all the ingredients on a low speed until they come together into a cohesive ball of dough. If you prefer, you can also mix the dough by hand to avoid overworking your electric mixer.
8. Divide the dough into equal-sized portions, aiming for around 24g for large biscuits and 20g for smaller ones. You can use a scale for precision if desired.See note 1
9. Roll each portion of dough into a ball and arrange them on the lined baking trays, ensuring they are spaced about 5cm/2" apart to allow for spreading. No need to flatten the balls.
10. Chill the trays in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
11. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
12. Bake the biscuits for 14-15 minutes or until they turn golden brown on top.
13. Allow the biscuits to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.See note 3

Icing and sandwiching

1. As the biscuits cool, prepare the icing. In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and vanilla essence and sift in the icing sugar.
2. To prevent a cloud of sugar dust, start by roughly combining the icing sugar with the butter using a spatula to help contain the sugar.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the icing for 3-4 minutes until it becomes light and fluffy. If the icing appears too stiff, add one teaspoon of milk, or two if necessary. The icing should be relatively stiff to ensure the cookies hold together without sliding apart.
4. Once the biscuits have cooled down, spread a dollop of icing on half of them.See note 4
5. Finally, top each iced biscuit with another biscuit. Gently wiggle the two biscuits to ensure an even spread of icing between them.
6. Let the icing harden before handling the biscuits extensively or storing them in a cookie tin. Speed up the process by chilling them in the fridge for a while.