Speculoos Spice Cookies are based on a classic Belgian recipe that makes perfect cut out cookies ~ these pretty snowflakes will be the stars of your holiday cookie assortment!
Everybody’s got their favorite cookie cutters, and chances are they only see the light of day at this time of year. If I’m going to bother rolling and cutting cookies, then I want it to be fun, and I’m partial to pretty snowflakes.
Speculoos are a traditional holiday spice cookie in Belgium and the Netherlands. This dough is a little more interesting than plain sugar cookies, and yet not as overwhelmingly spiced and peppery as gingerbread can sometimes be. It smells like the holidays and makes a nice all purpose cookie dough.
Some years I use these cutters with salt dough and make tree ornaments to give away. This year it’s strictly edible.
Use any cutter you like. The dough rolls out easily and reforms and re-rolls easily as well, so there’s little waste.
I just used a plain white royal icing to glaze these cookies. The frosting dries hard, so you can stack them for giving.
Not quite Martha Stewart, but then again they won’t make you pull out your hair…which is worth something.
If you love to cut out holiday cookies, see my HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES AND DIY COLORED SUGAR post for more inspiration. I’ll show you how to make your own colored sugars in a rainbow of shades you won’t find at the grocery store!
Speculoos Spice Cookies
Ingredients
cookies
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 2 1/4 cups all-purposed flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/3 sticks unsalted butter, softened at room temperature (about 11 tablespoons)
royal icing
- 2 egg whites, or you can use dried egg whites mixed with water according to the package
- 2-3 cups confectioner's sugar, add it in slowly, just enough so you get a spreadable consistency, add more sugar for a stiffer icing
- decorations if desired
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add in the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Turn the dough out onto a board and bring together into one piece, if it's crumbly, knead it a bit. Cut the dough in 2 and form flat discs, as if for pie dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Roll out the dough to your desired thickness and cut your cookies. If you spray the inside of your cutters with cooking spray, they will release the dough easier. Place the cut out cookies on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, depending on thickness, and cool on a rack. They won't brown, and will firm up as they cool.
- Frost with royal icing and add decorative sugars, etc., if you want to.
- To make the frosting, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add in the sugar, and beat well, until you get stiff peaks.
- Transfer to a baggie with the edge clipped, or a pastry bag. Or, you can just spoon the icing down over the cookies for total coverage like I did. If the icing seems too thick, thin with a little warm water. Add in food coloring if you like.
Make it your own ~
- Don’t hesitate to add sprinkles or colored sugar to the wet icing for a colorful festive touch.
- Before baking the cookies use a toothpick or a straw to create small holes at the top to thread with string or wire for hanging as ornaments.
- Add gel food coloring to tint the royal icing any color you’d like.
Don’t forget to pin these Speculoos Spice Cookies!
I have a confession to make. I read every post you write. Only, I don’t comment. I’m sorry, but time is so limited. However, today, I must comment. I love these cookies. I truly do. I love Speculoos cookies, and I don’t have to patience to decorate sugar cookies all fancy-like…you know. But, these. Ah, these. They are pretty, and very do-able. Yes, I can make these. And, I shall. Thank you!
These are so gorgeous! They make me want to get up and bake right now!
Over the years I’ve found that if I don’t bake really early in the season, it doesn’t get done 🙂
Love how you made the cutouts in the snowflakes’ interiors!
Those are beautiful! I would LOVE to make something that pretty for tree ornaments at our cabin. I considered it, but I’ve had truly HORRID luck with making any form of cut cookie/ornaments in the past. Given, I’ve only tried twice, but it was pretty darn bad.
Of course, I’m not sure if I could resist just eating these! How do you make your salt dough, Sue? Mine really was awful. 🙁
I set out to do something much more elaborate, but gave myself permission to switch gears midway through and keep it simple. Big hands or small, there’s just so much fussing that you can do with food before it becomes headache inducing!
Gorgeous! Those cutters are the bomb!
Not sure why you wrote “not exactly Martha Stewart”; but, she’s a bit too Princess Perfect for me anyway.
I much prefer Ina… she loves the “homemade” look…. so you are right up there in my book!
They sound divine and I can’t wait to see a big snowflake in your virtual cookie box… happy the flakes are MIA in upstate NY as of now 😉
Haha, Ina is the bomb! Glad your weather is holding up, but I know I’m going to need lots of snowflake cookies this winter to make up for the lack of real snow here!
Wow, those shapes are gorgeous. I am drawn to this recipe because of the cardamom, which I just recently used in a coffee cake (recipe to be posted on my blog this weekend). What an interesting spice cardamom is! I must try these cookies. Where did you find those amazing cutters?
Claudia
I love cardamom too, I’ve been using it a lot. In fact, I’m basically using it in place of cinnamon. I love that it’s used equally in sweet and savory foods. Don’t remember where I got the cutters, I meant to look them up and make a link, thanks for the reminder. I’m guessing someplace like Williams Sonoma.
“Speculoos are a traditional Dutch holiday spice cookie” <-- and I will be traveling to a place shortly where they serve them, in full force, and have always been trying to recreate a good, quality, solid recipe (that's written in English..ha!) but never really have found the recipe I am looking for. Yours looks amazing! I would love these. I love speculoos, the spread, the cookies, the whole flavor palate is perfect!
My grandfather was Dutch, and so I remember eating them at his house when I was young. This is a pretty mild version, but I’d love to see what you come up with for an authentic one. It uses black pepper, no?
You recipe and cookies look good:-) I added some new cutters this year:-)
Looking forward to trying them:-)
Thank you for the recipe–so pretty:-)
I used to have a huge drawer full of cutters, but when we moved they didn’t make the cut (no pun intended!)…I’m glad I saved my snowflakes, though!
So pretty, I wish you could open a blog store Sue.
I’m thinking about it!