Belgian Spice Speculaas Cookies Recipes

HOW TO MAKE AUTHENTIC SPECULOOS COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together.
• Add one egg at a time, mixing about 30 to 60 seconds after each one.
• In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and spices. Then add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix lightly until incorporated. Repeat in 2 steps for the next 2/3 of the flour mixture.
• Make a ball with the dough. Knead gently on a floured cutting board only to make sure all ingredients are mixed well together. If the dough sticks to your hands or the cutting board, add a little more flour until it's no longer sticky. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator. Leave at least 30 minutes. I usually leave it overnight. It can stay in the refrigerator 24 hours without any problems.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before rolling. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C (see notes below). Cut dough in three parts. Flatten the first part. Roll it out on a floured cutting board until the dough is about 1/12 inch / 2 millimeters thick. A little thicker is ok too. Be careful not to roll the dough too thin or else the cookies will break or burn. Gather the remaining dough and roll it out again to create new shapes.
• Use your cookie cutters to create shapes. Place the cut-out shapes of dough onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Put the filled baking sheet into the oven (on the middle rack). Let bake until the cookies are lightly brown on top (about 15 minutes). Remove cookies from oven and let them cool on a rack.
• While you bake each pan of cookies, continue rolling out the rest of the dough. You will thus roll-out and bake simultaneously. Therefore the time indicated for rolling out and baking will overlap to a large extent.
• After all the cookies are baked and cooled off, enjoy! If you create shapes the size of my cookies in the photo, you will make about 45 cookies per egg. Share with friends!

BELGIAN SPICE COOKIES (SPECULOOS)

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• Add turbinado sugar to food processor fitted with steel blade. Process for 30 seconds to break down sugar crystals. (See Tip 4)
• Add the chilled butter to the food processor. Process until butter is incorporated with the sugar, about 30 seconds. Add the egg. Process until incorporated, about 10 seconds.
• Add the dry ingredients to the sugar/butter mixture in the food processor. Process until flour is well incorporated, about 30 seconds.
• Transfer cookie dough to gallon Ziploc bag. Leaving the top open, roll the dough into an even layer that fills the bag. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so that it doesn't cause creases. Seal the bag, and place in freezer for at least 30 minutes. See (Tips 5 and 6)
• Preheat oven to 300°F
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Put the ziploc bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough onto a parchment lined board or counter; discard the bag. Trim the four sides of the dough with a fluted pastry wheel cutter. Using a ruler as a guide and a fluted pastry cutter wheel, cut the dough into 32 1-1/4 inch rectangles. (See Tip 7)
• Bake at 300°F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes.
• Yield: 32 Belgian Spice Cookies. (See Tip 8)

SPECULOOS (BELGIAN SPICE COOKIES)

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Mix together the cinnamon, coriander, and allspice in a small bowl. Remove one teaspoon of the spice mixture and place it in another bowl, along with the white sugar.
• In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking soda, cloves, and the rest of the spice mixture and whisk.
• Using a stand mixer with the paddle, beat the butter, brown sugar, and salt on high for about 5 minutes, until fluffy and light. Add the corn syrup and water and mix for 30 seconds more.
• Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined.
• Divide the dough in half and lightly knead each half a couple of times. Press each into 8 inch squares. Wrap one in plastic wrap while you work with the other half.
• Roll one half of the dough out to 1/8 inch thick between two layers of parchment paper.
• Using a 2 inch round, square, or rectangle cookie cutter, cut the dough and gently lift the cut cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart.
• If you like, you can use a smaller cookie cutter to make an imprint on the cookies. Poke a few holes in the center with a toothpick.
• Re-roll the scraps and cut more cookies. Sprinkle with the reserved sugar and spice mixture. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before baking.
• Bake the cookies in the center of the oven for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating halfway through. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
• Repeat with the rest of the cookie dough.

BELGIAN SPICE (SPECULAAS) COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream together first four ingredients.
• Sift together dry ingredients, pour into creamed ingredients.
• Stir until blended.
• Stir in the pecans.
• Form the dough into long rolls on wax paper and chill overnight in the refrigerator.
• Slice very thin (the family can't agree how thin "very" is) and place on cookie sheet.
• Bake at 400 degrees about 10 minutes.

SPECULAAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Dust 2 baking sheets with flour.
• Combine brown sugar and butter together in a bowl; beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, cinnamon, baking powder, cloves, and nutmeg. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough comes together.
• Shape dough into cookies by hand or using cookie cutters. Arrange on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until firm but not hard, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

SPECULAAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, mace, white pepper, and cloves in a large bowl.
• Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in half the flour mixture. Beat in water, then remaining flour mixture. Shape into 3 disks. Pat each to a 1-inch thickness, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Dust surface and springerle mold lightly with confectioners' sugar. Roll out dough to a 1/4- to 3/8-inch thickness (deeper molds will need thicker dough). Cut a piece of dough about the size of the mold. Press mold firmly into dough, flip over, and gently roll over dough with a rolling pin. Flip over, and press onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a knife, trim excess dough. Gently coax dough out of mold with fingertips and onto a baking sheet. Repeat, spacing cookies 1 inch apart, and placing same-size cookies on same sheet. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 1 sheet of cookies in oven, and immediately reduce temperature to 250. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are set and just beginning to turn light gold around edges, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

SPECULAAS

Steps:

• Using a food processor, finely grind the almonds with 2 tablespoons of the flour. Whisk together ground almonds with the rest of the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
• In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until combined.
• With the mixer on low speed, add in the flour mixture and mix until just moistened and combined.
• Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap well with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least three hours, but preferably overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll dough 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies and place on sheets about 1 inch apart.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm and lightly golden around the edges. Cool sheets on wire racks for a couple minutes before transferring cookies directly onto wire racks with a spatula to finish cooling.

BELGIAN SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat brown sugar and butter in large bowl until light. Add egg and beat until fluffy. Gradually add dry ingredients and beat just until combined. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half into rectangle. Wrap with plastic; chill 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets. Roll out 1 dough piece on lightly floured work surface to 13 x 9-inch rectangle. Trim edges to form 12x8-inch rectangle. Cut into 24 4x1-inch rectangles. Lightly press miniature cookie cutter into each rectangle to make imprints (do not cut through dough). Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake until edges begin to darken, about 8 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack and cool. Repeat with remaining dough piece.
• Working with 1 cookie at a time, brush imprints with melted white chocolate. Sprinkle colored sugar generously over chocolate. Let stand until chocolate sets, about 2 hours. Shake off excess colored sugar. (Can be made ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week, or freeze up to 1 month.)

SPECULAAS COOKIES OR SPICY SINTERKLASS CAKES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve the brown sugar in milk. Combine the flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the sugar and milk. Mix in 2 tablespoons of almonds and candied citron. Cut in the butter until it starts to form a dough, then knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Cover dough and chill for about 1 hour for easier handling.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Dust a wooden speculaas mold lightly with cornstarch. Firmly press the dough into the mold. Run a knife around the edges to trim off excess dough. Gently lift dough out of the mold or tap out onto a cookie sheet. Press remaining almond slivers into cookies to match the designs.
• Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, just until the edges begin to darken. If your cookies are more than 1/2 inch thick, bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for up to 30 minutes. Cool cookies on wire racks to crisp. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month. The flavor will get better with age.