* Thank you for stopping by. Don’t forget to check out yesterday’s post from the Holiday Gift Exchange – Book Lovers Blog Hop. Everyone gets a free gift and a chance to enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card. But make sure to come back here and enter another giveaway! *
As many of you have heard, my writing group, the talented Writing Wenches, have put together the holiday anthology, Unwrapping Love. My story within the anthology is Declan’s Special.
Declan’s Special tells the story of local bakery owner, Evie Barnes, and Declan O’Connor, a playboy with charm, business success, and an Irish accent. Declan has been visiting Evie’s bakery regularly, but this holiday season, he places an order for his business with Evie. One of treats he requests is the gypsy creams that his grandmother made for him as a child.
As a special treat today, I thought I would provide you with Declan’s family gypsy creams recipe. And yes, this is a real gypsy creams recipe tried and perfected by me (and Evie!).
O’Connor Family Gypsy Creams
For Cookies:
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbl unsalted butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbl vegetable shortening
scant 2/3 cup sugar
5 tsp. boiling water
2 tsp. golden syrup (I used cane syrup since golden is hard to find in the States)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups rolled oats
For Icing:
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbl unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 ¼ cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/8 tsp. of coffee extract
Directions: (Yields approximately 2-2½ dozen)
Cookies: Preheat oven to 325°F. Sift together flour and baking soda. Whisk in oats with flour mixture and set aside. Using a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer on low speed, beat butter and shortening until just combined. Add sugar and beat on medium speed until a light and fluffy consistency, set aside. Mix boiling water and syrup until blended and add to butter mixture, beating until thoroughly combined. Gently fold in the flour and oat mixture until incorporated, leaving no clumps of flour.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out mixture to about a ½ inch thickness. Using a round 1 inch in diameter cutter, cut out an even number of rounds. Place the rounds on a parchment lined cookie sheet approximately 1 inch apart.
Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on cookie sheet for approximately 5 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to continue to cool.
Icing: Beat butter on low speed until smooth. Slowly add 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar at a time, finishing with the 1/4 cup. Beat until fully incorporated and light and fluffy. Add the coffee extract and beat until blended. It should have a peanut butter like consistency.
Once cookies are cooled, spread a layer of icing on half of the cookies and sandwich the iced cookies with the un-iced. In honor of a recipe from across the pond, they should be enjoyed with tea, but I’m partial to coffee. 
I hope you enjoy this tasty treat as much as Declan and Evie!
In celebration of the release of Unwrapping Love, I am having a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enter for up to four chances to win a $10 Amazon gift card.
Get Unwrapping Love, and find out if Declan can convince Evie to get past his womanizing ways and take a chance on him in Declan’s Special. And make sure, this holiday season, to give the gift of love.
Twenty-one of today’s freshest romance authors have come together to bring you their sweetest and, in some cases, steamiest, holiday happily ever afters.
Unwrap love and lose yourself in the Writing Wenches Holiday Anthology.
Make sure to visit the other Writing Wenches who are a part of the blog hop. Each of them is hosting a giveaway and telling you a bit about her part in Unwrapping Love! You can stop by each website to learn more about the anthology and enter each individual giveaway, which will be posting over the next several days.
Kay Blake contributed Winter’s Gift. Her site is http://www.authorkayblake.wordpress.com
Christine Cacciatore wrote Noah Cane’s Candy. She blogs at http://poopwafoley.blogspot.com/
Patricia D. Eddy wrote On The Eve of Love. Her website is http://www.pdeddy.com/holiday-blog-hop.
C. S. Kendall is the author of Second Chance Girl. She would love it if you would visit her at http://www.cskendall.net
Tami Lund is the author of The Perfect Christmas. You can find her at http://tamilund.com/?page_id=91 .
Misti Murphy contributed Christmas Candy. Her site is http://mistimurphy.weebly.com
Quenby Olson wrote First Position. You can visit her at http://quenbyolson.wordpress.com/
Keisha K. Page contributed Rhythm of Love. Her website is http://thewordmistress.blogspot.com/
Grace Ravel wrote Shut Up and Kiss Me. Her site is www.graceravel.com
Jennifer Ray wrote Declan’s Special. You can visit her at www.adventuresinjentopia.wordpress.com
Jennifer Senhaji is the author of Angels in Disguise. You can find her at http://jennifersenhaji.blogspot.com/
A.E. Snow contributed Miles and Mae. Her site is at www.aesnowauthor.blogspot.com
Sheri Williams wrote Numb, and is sharing the blog hop from the Writing Wenches main website at www.writingwenches.com.
S. K. Wills wrote Hanley’s Secret. Her website is http://skwills.com/blog/
Allison Winfield is the author of Stay With Me. You can find her at http://alwinfield.com
Other stories in Unwrapping Love were contributed by:
Melody Barber
Sonja Frojendal
Melina Gillies
Michael Simko
Beth Stanley
K.R. Wilburn