Speculoos Cookies Are Filled With Holiday Spice Flavor (2024)

Karin Engelbrecht

Magazine editor, restaurant reviewer, and food writer who focuses on Dutch cuisine.

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Updated on 05/23/22

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Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 20 mins

Total: 35 mins

Ingredients

Gather the ingredients.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, raw cane sugar, butter, milk, spice, baking soda, and zest with your hands or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. The dough is ready when you can shape it into a ball without it sticking to your hands.
Cover the dough ball with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for an hour so the spices can work their magic.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 347 F / 175 C. Grease one or more cookie sheet pans or line them with parchment paper.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll 1/4-inch thick.
Using a cookie cutter or speculaasplank, cut the dough and place the shapes on the prepared sheet pan(s).
Brush the cookieswith egg white and sprinkle brown sugar and flaked almonds on top.
Bake 10 to 25 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the cookies, or until the almonds are caramelizing and the cookies are turning a slightly darker shade of brown.
Remove from the ovenand allow to cool a few minutes on the pan(s) and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Basterdsuiker is a typical Dutch product. It is manufactured by adding invert sugar and other ingredients to fine white refined sugar. This mixture helps to achieve certain textural structures and keeps baked goods moist. There are three varieties—white, brown, and dark brown—called witte basterdsuiker, (licht)bruine basterdsuiker or gele basterdsuiker, and donkerbruine basterdsuiker. It is widely available from Dutch supermarkets and some Dutch groceries on the Internet. You can substitute the donkerbruine basterdsuiker in this recipe with pure cane sugar (demerara).
While little sachets of speculaas spices (known as speculaaskruiden) are available online, you can easily make your own speculaaskruiden or substitute pumpkin pie spices.
The traditional method calls for using a speculaasplank, a carved wooden board. There is no need to go on a special shopping expedition, although you can find these online. A regular cookie cutter will do just fine.

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Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 24
Amount per serving
Calories	87
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 4g	5%
Saturated Fat 2g	11%
Cholesterol 17mg	6%
Sodium 166mg	7%
Total Carbohydrate 12g	4%
Dietary Fiber 0g	1%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 0mg	2%
Calcium 38mg	3%
Iron 1mg	3%
Potassium 22mg	0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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