Speculaas

4.50 from 10 reviews

Speculaas cookes are crunchy, sweet and have a lovely warm-spice flavor. Shape them with a traditional windmill cookie molds or cutter for a real Dutch treat.

Prep Time20

Bake Time8

Rolling/Cutting Time20

Total Time48

Servings:18 Cookies

Ingredients

5 oz all purpose flour (1 cup, see note)
2 ¼ oz cake flour (½ cup)
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cardamom
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon ground anise
4 oz unsalted butter (room temperature)
6 oz brown sugar (¾ cup packed)
2 oz almond flour (⅓ cup)
1 oz whole milk (2 tablespoons)
rice flour for molds or ap flour for rolling

Instructions

Sift together 5 oz all purpose flour, 2 ¼ oz cake flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon table salt, 2 teaspoons cinnamon,½ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon cardamom, ¼ teaspoon cloves, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, and ¼ teaspoon ground anise.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, cream together4 oz unsalted butter and 6 oz brown sugar until lightened in color and slightly aerated. Add 2 oz almond flour and mix until incorporated.
Add 1 oz whole milk to the butter mixture. Add the sifted flour mixture. Mix until the dough comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly to form the dough into a ball, wrap and refrigerate at least 2-3 hours or overnight.
Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400 °F.
If you're using a cookie cutter, roll the dough to ¼" thick and cut the shapes. Reroll the scraps and continue cutting. If using wooden speculaas molds it's easier to work with the dough if you let it soften up. Dust the molds with rice flour and press a ball of dough to fill the cavity. Trim off excess dough and flip the cookie onto the parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 5 minutes. Turn the trays and bake another 3 minutes until brown around the edges and the dough is set in the middle.
When cool, store cookies in an air-tight container.

Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

You can use 1 tablespoon plus a teaspoon of pre-mixed speculaas spice in place of the spices listed in the recipe.

Nutrition