Speculaas

Speculaas or Speculoos? There is indeed a difference, and that difference lies in the spices used. In the Netherlands, it's usually called speculaas, which contains a spice mix (speculaas spices) made of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, anise seed, and white pepper.
Our Belgian counterpart generally only contains cinnamon as spice.

Ingredients for approximately 20 large speculaas cookies

(The number of cookies depends on the size of the mold you use to make them.)

• 175g butter at room temperature
• 400g brown sugar (light or dark)
• 2.5g baking powder
• 7.5g bicarbonate of soda
• Optional: 0.5 tsp speculaas spices (the more you add, the stronger the flavor of your cookies)
• 0.5 tsp cinnamon powder (similarly: the more you add, the stronger the cinnamon flavor will be)
• 100g water
• 625g flour

Additional tools needed:

• Kitchen mixer with a K-beater attachment
• Wooden speculaas molds
• Nylon thread or strong sewing thread
• Plastic wrap
• Baking tray, baking paper
• Flour to dust the molds

Preparation

Making the dough (24 hours in advance!)

Soften the butter using the K-beater attachment on your mixer at a low speed. Gradually add the 400g of brown sugar. Light or dark brown sugar doesn't matter; if you use dark sugar, your cookies will have a darker color.

In a small bowl, mix 2.5g of baking powder with 100g of water. Stir well, then add 7.5g of bicarbonate of soda. Add this to the butter and sugar mixture. Add the speculaas spices and the cinnamon.

Finally, add the flour, but not all at once. Allow the mixer to run until you have a smooth, kneadable dough. Roll the dough into a compact log shape and wrap it in plastic foil. Let it rest for 24 hours in the refrigerator. You'll notice that the dough darkens slightly during this time.

Baking the cookies

Remove the dough from the refrigerator 3 hours before working with it, so it softens and becomes kneadable.
Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Dust your speculaas mold with flour and tap out any excess flour.

Place the dough roll into your speculaas mold and press firmly to ensure it spreads evenly in the mold. Scrape off the excess dough with a piece of nylon thread.

Run the thread tightly and horizontally along the mold. Carefully roll up the excess dough for reuse. Gently remove the dough from the mold and place it on the baking tray. Repeat this process with the remaining dough until all is used.

Bake the speculaas in the oven for about 13 minutes. Initially, they'll feel soft when they come out of the oven, but they'll harden as they cool. It's a good idea to test with 1 or 2 cookies first to determine the correct baking time, as every oven is different.

Enjoy!