On top of having that incredible taste and crisp bite, my Iconic Speculaas Cookiesrecipe gives you an absolutely beautiful treat to share around the table or to wrap up in some pretty gift bags that you can surprise your friends and family with.
Speculaas cookies are a Dutch spiced shortcrust cookie thats usually served the day before the feast of St. Nicholas, which takes place on December 5. Now, its not unusual to see these baked up in homes and bakeries all through the winter.
The ingredients that give these cookies their distinct flavoring are warm spices, including cinnamon, ground cloves, aniseed, nutmeg, and ginger. Not only do they taste amazing theyll fill your entire house with a warm, comforting scent while they bake!
Whether you know them as speculoos, speculaas, spekulatius or Biscoff, few things are as irresistible as these positively delicious, buttery gingerbread shortcrust cookies! Wonderfully crispy, crunchy and deeply caramelized, theyre sure to become part of your annual holiday baking regimen!
If you havent heard of them by their traditional names, youre most likely familiar their commercially-sold name: Biscoff. But let me tell you, the store-bought cookies, as good as they are, cannot compare with the rich and robust flavor of these homemade Biscoff cookies. These crunchy, buttery gingerbread cookies are absolutely scrumptious!
What is the history behind speculoos
Speculoos cookies go back to at least the mid-1600s when the shoes of well-behaved children would be filled with them on the eve of December 5th. The following day the children would rush out to see what Sinterklaas left behind for them. The good children would empty their shoes and happily munch on their heaps of speculoos while the bad children were carried off in Sinterklaas burlap sack. Such was the threat anyway. From what history tells us no children were actually ever taken, leaving them with another chance to get it right the next year.
Where did the name speculoos originate
Another option is wooden mold rolling pin that stamps designs onto the cookie dough as you roll it out. I have a mold rolling pin similar to this one that I brought back with me from Germany when I moved to the U. .. So there are a lot of options out there, both inexpensive and expensive, and you can go as simple or as fancy as you want.
Bakers ammonia, or ammonium bicarbonate, is what was traditionally used as a leavening agent up until 19th century when baking powder or baking soda came along. But that is not to say that baking powder/soda replaced bakers ammonia because they are in fact different chemical compounds and they yield different results. For that reason some recipes, especially in Europe and the Middle East, still call for bakers ammonia – specifically low-moisture baked goods like crackers and crispy cookies.
Bakers ammonia consists of tiny crystals that break down during the baking process, leaving tiny air pockets behind that create a unique honey-combed, porous crumb for a crispier, crunchier texture. This unique texture is something that neither baking powder nor baking soda can replicate, which instead will yielder much harder, denser cookies without the same crisp-crunch effect. Bakers ammonia is also unique from baking powder or baking soda in that it contributes to a more uniform spread in the cookies and also increases browning for that wonderful caramelized effect.
One of the advantages of these cookies is that theyre supposed to be made well in advance. So you can get some of your Christmas baking done at least a couple of weeks before youll even need them. Speculoos cookies are supposed to be stored in airtight tins for at least a couple of weeks before eating them to allow their flavors to mature.
While theyre delicious straight out of the oven, their flavor only gets better with time. This also means theyre perfect for gift-giving as they store and ship well. And youll score major points with your friends and family!
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the brown sugar, butter, egg yolks, cream, vanilla and lemon zest. Cream this butter mixture until smooth and pale, 5-6 minutes.
Its the love-child we didnt know we were waiting for: A peanut butter cookie fell deeply, madly in love with those lightly spiced cookies you get on the airplane. And the two never looked back. The same method works with nut butter or Nutellathats what gave us the idea in the first placebut spicy sweet cookie butter makes these classics taste at once retro and brand new. If we had a fourth ingredient to play with, we would roll the raw dough balls in some granulated sugar before baking for a little sparkle, but theyre plenty sweet just as they are.
If you have never heard of Speculoos cookies you are not alone. A few of my friends werent quite sure what they were. Speculoos cookie butter from Trader Joes is one of their best sellers. People have sang its praises as being the next Nutella because of its spreadable nature.
Speculoos cookies are akin to gingerbread cookies and are incredibly popular in Belgium and the Netherlands. Israel too has its own brand of cookie butter and biscuits with the brand Lotus. This was actually my first taste of this type of cookie. They are warm and deliciously full of spice.
How to make speculoos cookie butter live eat learn
These cookies have an excellent taste. I too found the dough to be dry, so I added enough water to make the dough pliable. NOTE Next time I make these I would use less flour than the recipe calls for because I found them to have a slight 'floury' taste. Also, I noticed the colder the dough the better the impressions on the final cookies. I would suggest re-chilling the dough between re-rolling the scraps. These cookies are a lot of effort, but the taste is wonderful.
Is it possible to make these, just as cookies to cut out with cutters? I'm going to try it, but it says nowhere on here or in the magazine if it's possible to treat this as a regular cookie dough.
clickplaytoseethis windmill cookie recipe come together
Originally from Holland, these spiced biscuits come in all kinds of beautiful shapes, ranging from thin and crispy to thick and soft, with slivered almonds or without. Even the spice mix can differ, using anywhere from threeat least cinnamon, ginger, and clovesto sometimes nine different spices.
I was also lucky enough to live close to the Belgian-Dutch border and a short drive away from those Dutch Christmas marketsa real treatwhich often had a more extensive selection and some still traditionally baked in wooden molds.
But the warm festive flavors of these biscuits do not need any specialty shapes to grace your cookie box or gift something unique to friends and familythey'll be spreading the joy this Holiday season regardless.
On the other hand,anise seedsare another spice I like to mix in from time to time. And I highly recommend it if you already have it in your kitchen cabinet. They add a subtle sweet aroma but won't overpower the rest of the flavors.
Mix those spices with dark brown sugar and butter, and you get a beautiful brown cookie with rich caramelized and sweet spiced flavorsa gourmet-like treat perfect for dipping in your favorite warm drink!
What is speculoos biscoff spread or cookie butter?
Speculaasorspeculoos are spiced shortcrust biscuits traditionally baked to celebrate St Nicholas day in the Netherlands. These type of biscuits are popular in Belgium, Germany and nowadays they are increasingly well know in other European countries too.
For this chocolate chip cookies, I paired the speculoos cookie butter with white chocolate chips. love these two flavours and I strongly believe that they pair beautifully together! Do you remember the Speculoos and White Chocolate Truffles I made for Christmas a few years ago?
Ravneet gillsgooey chocolate chip cookies
There are hundreds of chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, but one of the best ones ever is found onThe Pastry Chefs Guide cookbook by Ravneet Gill. I made her cookies a few months ago, during the lockdown period, and OMG I was hooked! They are so so tasty!
