Homemade Romany Creams (aka Gypsy Creams)

Romany Creams are one of the most popular biscuits sold in South Africa. These delicious cookies are crunchy, chocolatey, packed with coconut, and sandwiched together with melted chocolate for extra decadence. They were also known as Gypsy Creams and this is how you can make them yourself at home.

Who of you can remember a biscuit called Gypsy Creams? They were introduced into the UK in the late 60s / early 70s by McVities but unfortunately went out of production around 2005. These were the ultimate chocolate biscuits, chocolate being used both in the biscuit itself and also in the filling which was used to sandwich two biscuits together.

They were also packed with coconut and were extremely crunchy. They were the perfect biscuit for dunking in a cup of tea.

Fortunately, this biscuit is still baked today in South Africa by a manufacturer called Pyotts, under the name of Romany Creams. Unfortunately, if you don't live in South Africa, you can only buy these biscuits through Amazon, or from your local South African shop, at a price which is less than ideal.

Luckily, I have a recipe for you which will enable you to make these delicious biscuits at home. They are so easy to make that a child could make them. In fact, if you do have a child available you might want to rope them in to help you roll and shape the biscuits. It's the perfect way to keep the youngsters occupied on a cold winter's afternoon.

And if you are looking for a Christmas gift for a homesick South African friend, I'm sure a batch of these biscuits would be highly appreciated!

You might also like to try my other South African teatime treat, hertzoggies, which are delightful jam-filled tarts covered with a crisp coconut meringue.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Tips for a successful result
• Equipment
• Storage
• Save for later
• Related recipes
• 📋The recipe

Ingredients

Depending on how large you make them, this recipe will make about 50 single biscuits or 25 biscuits sandwiched with chocolate.

• Flour - I used plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder. You could also use self-raising flour and omit the baking powder.
• Sugar - caster sugar is better for baking as it dissolves more easily. You could use white granulated sugar instead.
• Eggs - medium-sized eggs at room temperature. These will also provide the moisture content so you shouldn't need any additional liquid.
• Butter - you can use either salted or unsalted butter. If using unsalted butter I recommend adding a little salt to the mixture. The butter should be at room temperature so that it combines easily when mixed with the sugar.
• Coconut - this is desiccated unsweetened coconut.
• Cocoa - unsweetened cocoa powder. Don't use drinking chocolate - it doesn't give the same taste.
• Golden syrup - just a small amount adds a nice flavour to the biscuits.
• Vanilla essence - for extra flavour.

Not pictured - Chocolate for sandwiching the biscuits together. I used a bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk, but you could use baking chocolate instead. If you wanted a white filling, you could substitute with Milky Bar.

** You can find the exact ingredient measurements on the printable recipe card at the end of this post **

Instructions

Bake

Sandwich the biscuits

Tips for a successful result

Here are my tips to ensure your Romany Creams turn out perfectly:

• When creaming the butter and sugar, be sure to beat the mixture until the sugar has completely combined with the butter and the mixture is pale and creamy.
• Beat well after the addition of each egg. The mixture will almost double in volume.
• Mix in the flour until it is completely combined and there are no white streaks of flour showing.
• Once the coconut has been added you will find the texture is very thick and sticky and you will be unable to roll it out with a rolling pin.
• Use a teaspoon to place the mixture onto a baking tray. Unless you want large biscuits don't use a tablespoon; the mixture will expand as it bakes. See steps 4 and 5 above for before and after images.
• Leave sufficient room between each spoonful of dough to allow for expansion.
• Flatten the dough with a wet fork before baking or you may find the biscuits are too fat when you come to sandwich them together.
• Allow the biscuits to cool completely before spreading with chocolate.
• If you melt the chocolate in the microwave, do it in short 30 second bursts on full power and stir after each burst. If the chocolate hasn't completely melted after this time, continue heating for 10 seconds at a time. My 900-watt microwave needed 2 bursts of 30 seconds plus 1 final burst of 10 seconds.
• If you melt the chocolate over a pan of water on the stove, do not let the dish touch the water and keep the water to a simmer - don't boil the water vigorously. Stir continually until the chocolate has melted and take care not to get any water into the chocolate or it will seize up and you will have to throw it away and start again.
• If you prefer you can spread chocolate onto one side of each biscuit without sandwiching them together. They are also absolutely delicious without any chocolate coating.

Equipment

You will need a mixing bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients, and a hand-mixer if you have one. You could use a wooden spoon instead.

For baking the biscuits you will need one or two large baking trays. If you use 2 baking trays you can put them on two oven racks one above the other. I like to line my trays with baking paper or a silicone liner to prevent the biscuits from sticking. You could grease the trays with butter instead.

Storage

Once the romany creams have cooled you can store them in an airtight container in the kitchen. They will stay fresh for over a week.

Save for later

If you would like to make these Romany Creams, why not pin the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click the image below.

Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Related recipes

Visit my South African recipes page for other South African recipes. Here are a few you might enjoy:

📋The recipe

If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I'd love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you'd like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!

If you'd like to continue browsing, just click on this link to all my recipes.