Speculoos cookies
Speculoos are traditional spiced cookies from Belgium and the Netherlands, closely tied to the feast of Saint Nicholas in early December. They're thin and crunchy, with the caramel flavor of brown sugar blended with cinnamon, ginger, cloves and cardamom. They're also the cookie you'll often find served alongside a cup of coffee in European cafés.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 14 min
- Rising or chilling
- 4 hr
- Total time
- 4 hr 44 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
Instructions
Step 1
Sift 250 g all-purpose flour, 2 g baking soda, a pinch salt, 6 g ground cinnamon, 1 g ground ginger, 1 g ground nutmeg, 1 g ground cloves and 1 g ground cardamom together into a bowl. Sifting them together spreads the spices evenly so no cookie ends up with a harsh spicy spot. The mixture is ready when it's an even light brown.
Step 2
Beat 125 g softened unsalted butter with 150 g brown sugar for about two minutes, then add 30 g whole milk and beat for a few seconds more. Brown sugar is the soul of speculoos, giving the cookies their amber color and deep caramel flavor. The mixture is ready when it's smooth, creamy and light brown.
Step 3
Add the spiced flour mixture to the butter and mix on low speed until the dough clumps together, then press it gently with your hands to bring it together. There's no need to knead for long, since these cookies should be crisp, not chewy. The dough is ready when it's firm, a little dry and doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl.
Step 4
Press the dough into a flat disk, wrap it tightly and refrigerate for at least four hours, ideally overnight. The cold rest lets the spices bloom and the brown sugar absorb moisture, making the cookies much more fragrant and crisp. The dough is ready when it's firm and smells richly of spice.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 175°C for about fifteen minutes before baking and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. A fully hot oven from the start helps these thin cookies keep crisp, sharp patterns. The oven is ready when the heat indicator light goes off.
Step 6
Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper until very thin, only about three millimeters, then cut it into rectangles or use a patterned cutter to stamp designs. Thin cookies give you that classic speculoos snap, while thick ones turn out soft and more like gingerbread. You're done cutting when the pieces are evenly thin and the patterns are clearly imprinted.
Step 7
Arrange the cookies two centimeters apart and bake at 175°C for 12 to 15 minutes. Baking long enough drives off all the moisture so the cookies are crunchy once cool. They're done when the edges are slightly darker than the centers and the tops look dry.
Step 8
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for five minutes, then move them to a wire rack for about fifteen minutes more. They're still soft while hot and only become truly crisp once cool. They're ready when they break with a clean snap.
Equipment
- Oven
- Hand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Sieve
- Kitchen scale
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutter
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Wire cooling rack
- Plastic wrap
- Refrigerator
Tips
- If you have a traditional carved wooden mold, dust it with flour, press the dough in, then tap it gently to release a patterned cookie.
- Cooled cookies can be blended until smooth with a little vegetable oil and sugar to make a fragrant cookie butter spread for toast.
- For darker, more intense cookies, replace some of the brown sugar with coconut sugar.
Storage
Stored in a tightly sealed tin, speculoos stay crisp for about three weeks, and the spice flavor gets even deeper after a few days. Tightly wrapped unbaked dough can be frozen for up to two months.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The cookies are soft and not crisp once cool.
- They were rolled too thick or not baked long enough. Roll them thinner and bake two minutes longer, until the edges are clearly darker.
- The patterns blurred during baking.
- The dough warmed up before it went into the oven. Put the tray of cut cookies in the freezer for ten minutes before baking.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
