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!
Hello again! I have a question you may or may not be able to answer. When I was a child, my German grandmother made cut out sugar cookies that were just a little thicker than paper thin, extremely crispy and most importantly had an unusual flavor that I haven’t found any cookies since then to taste like. Unfortunately, I can’t describe the flavor except to say it was amazingly delicious. It was not spicy like gingerbread and I don’t think it contained any of the typical pumpkin pie type spices. It was a delicate but very distinct flavor that made the cookies delectable. Could it have been Mace or Cardamom, or is there something else out there that’s used in some old world sugar cookies? Just thought I’d check with you. Hope you and your family had a warm and yummy Thanksgiving.
Maybe if you take the individual spices, like mace, cardamom, nutmeg, etc, and sniff them to see if it brings back the memory? It could have been a speculoos cookie, which sometimes contains white pepper.
Stunning! I have this set of cutters – haven’t used them yet this year. Maybe I will now that I’ve seen these beauties.
hey sue, any chance you have these measurements in metric rather than cups… what’s the weight of 1/3 stick of butter for instance. (we don’t have butter sticks in the UK…) also… why do you say 2 x 1/4 cups of flour instead of 1/2 cup flour? All very confusing!!
They look so perfect! I love the snowflake design. So many cookies to make! So little time!
These look absolutely amazing. I’m definitely going to be making these cookies this year for Christmas!! I just had to share this the other foodies on Reachably https://www.reachably.com/activity/for/foodies
I do love everything about this!
Excellent idea!
what gorgeous and delicate snowflakes! these sound great. if i’m breaking out my cookie cutters, you’d better believe the result will be for eating purposes only. 🙂
I have to try these cookies…I love ones with a little spice. And those cookie cutters make beautiful cookies.
Just special! This is the second time I have come across Speculous in as many days – how have I never heard of it before. Maybe I could get it on lin?
thee are just divine… I’ve got such large hands that I’m really rubbish when it comes to this kind of fine cookie cutting and icing but I do happen to have a couple of nice christmas inspired cookie cutters so I may give this recipe a go… I guess I need to give myself some time and relax into it… thanks for sharing the recipe x