speculaas (dutch spice cookies)

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These cookies are meant to be pressed into a mold, but I don’t have one. I opt to roll and cut them out like sugar cookies (actually, I always make these with my kids the same day as those). These are a humble cookie, but if you love spice cookies like I do (I often laugh at how many variations of spice cookies* I have in my yearly list), these will find a spot in your own holiday baking, not only for their warm, comforting flavor, but also for their being a cinch to make!

As a note, I find they are best baked until they are crisp and snap pleasantly as you bite into them.

Such pretty snow coated Christmas trees!

speculaas

Makes a few dozen, depending on the size of your cutters

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon

  • 1 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (really the best, but pre-ground will do)

  • 1 tsp ground coriander

  • 1 tsp ground ginger

  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves

  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground white pepper (again, pre-ground will do)

  • 12 tbs (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, salted

  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

  • 1/3 cup milk or water (my preference is milk)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.

  2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix well and set aside.

  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together on medium speed the butter and sugar until well creamed, about 2 minutes.

  4. Add half of the flour mixture, and beat slowly to combine. Add all of the milk and then beat slowly to combine. Add the remaining flour, and beat until just combined. If the dough has a few dry bits at the bottom, that is fine. Just turn it out onto the counter and knead briefly to bring altogether into a homogenous mass. (If you want, you can flatten into a squat disc and wrap tightly and store in fridge for a few hours or up to a day or so before continuing on.)

  5. Immediately roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter, adding more flour to the counter and rolling pin as needed to keep from sticking. These cookies do not grow much from side to side, but do puff up significantly (a bit of a surprise every year!). So, rolling the dough to about 1/4in thickness is ideal.

  6. Cut out desired shapes and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.

  7. Chill in fridge for at least 15min or in freezer for at least 5min before baking. This will help maintain the shape of the cookies.

  8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until slightly toasted on bottoms and edges (not a significant difference in color, just a deeper shade of golden brown). Allow to cool entirely on the pan before transferring to a rack or tin (this will help ensure they crisp up nicely). Repeat with remaining pans.

  9. When cookies are fully cooled, decorate with either royal frosting or the first, hard-drying frosting Sarah uses in this recipe.

Notes:

  • Speaking of spice cookies, one year Maria or I will have to share the jazzed up, taken-to-the-utmost-level of these cookies: gevulde speculaas. They are stuffed with MARZIPAN! Need I say more?

Adapted from Cookies Unlimited by Nick Malgieri