I’m going to take the risk and say that these are my favorite cookies. I discovered them in Germany, and since my first year here as soon as the Christmas sweet campaign begins in supermarkets, I run and buy the first Spekulatius cookie package. Even the name is beautiful, it imposes respect and is stately. Well, I stop talking nonsense, I’m sure I’ve already convinced you that they are great and you’re going to take a look at the recipe;)
Spekulatius, Speculaas or Speculoos biscuits are spicy cookies that are eaten at Christmas in Holland, Belgium, Germany and Austria. In Spain the most similar to these cookies that I have found are the famous Lotus, although I have to tell you that it is not the same and that for me the German version is much better and spicy.
If bake them you will see that you they have a super sandy texture, since the contain few liquid ingredients. They leave the same feeling in the mouth, they feel very sandy and crispy, but with a caramelized and spicy flavor that is pure Christmas. The spices that are most commonly used to make these cookies are cardamom, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. From what I have read, they can also contain ginger and white pepper, although I have not used those.
In Germany they are served with spicy mulled wine (Glühwein), although I already tell you that soaked in a cappuccino they are much better! Another particularity of these cookies is their engraving. Christmas motifs are stamped on them that, in my opinion, make them look super pretty. Normally have motifs of Santa Klaus, mills, elephants … The traditional molds are made of wood and you just have to press the dough in the mold so that the engraved shape is left.
They also sell a kind of wooden rolling pins with forms to stamp engravings on them. I saw these molds with shapes of houses that seemed super nice and I could not resist buying them. These are made of silicone and I cannot tell you if they are the same or better than the wood ones, because I have never used the others. But those are so cute!
The homemade version of these cookies is better than the bought ones, so shame on me for waiting almost 6 years to make them myself. Although the truth is that I like so much the ones I get in the supermarket, that I didn’t need it either. I have baked them this year because I wanted the house-shaped cookies for a very diabolical Christmas cake that I have made. Soon you will see it 🙂 And now you can also have a piece of German Christmas at home with these cookies. You will love them and I assure you that they are one of the simplest cookies I have ever made!
Sweet dreams,
Speculaas cookies
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Loading...Ingredients
- 500 g flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 250 g sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg flower
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
- 200 g butter or margarine at room temperature
- 100 g almond flour
Instructions
In the mixer bowl pour all the ingredients and knead with the hook attachment until all the ingredients have been combined. You will have a very sandy dough, but make sure that the moisture in the butter and the egg has been evenly distributed.
Make a ball with the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can also refrigerate it for several days.
Preheat the oven to 180 ° C.
Separate the dough into small portions and stretch it with a rolling pin. Press the dough into a mold for speculoos cookies and trim the remaining margins, carefully remove from the mold so that the marked shape remains.
Refrigerate the cut cookies for about 20 minutes. Place them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Bake for about 10 minutes or until you see that they are golden brown.
You can keep these cookies for several days stored on a sealed food container.
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