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Crispy Speculaas Spiced Cookies (Speculoos)
Delicious, crisp, well spiced shortcrust butter biscuits popular in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria.
In the United States you can purchase Speculaas Spiced Cookies under the brand name Lotus Biscoff or make your own with this easy recipe! Lightly sweet and fun to make, Speculaas cookies are incredible with a cup of coffee or tea, or as a midnight snack.
Uniquely flavored with a fragrant blend of warm spices, these cookies are always a favorite in our house.
I took the time to research a lot of recipes for Speculaas Spiced Cookies before deciding on a King Arthur Flour recipe.
I adapted the recipe from King Arthur, most noticeably with a lower oven temperature and longer baking time. The slower bake time resulted in a better defined, stamped cookie. I was so thrilled with the cookies that I had to share this recipe!
For years I’ve lusted over cookie stamps and molds and knew that one day I’d find the perfect design.
Recently I received an email from King Arthur Flour featuring new Springerle molds for sale. When I saw the molds I was practically giddy with excitement and immediately knew this pine cone mold was the one for me!
If you’re not familiar with King Arthur Flour check them out, or better yet try their flour products. They are a 100% employee owned company, which is pretty incredible in itself.
This is not a sponsored post – and King Arthur Flour doesn’t know who I am – just sharing helpful info and tips with my favorite bakers! The pretty mold came with easy to understand instructions for using and cleaning the mold, and several recipes too. I haven’t tried the recipes yet, but they all sound great!
You don’t have to buy a special mold to make these cookies.
Use your favorite cookie cutter and drizzle the cookies with a simple icing or glaze for a pretty decoration. These cookies keep well for up to a week and maintain their nice crisp texture.
Can you freeze Speculaas Cookies?
These Speculaas Spiced Cookies are perfect for shipping and gifting, and freezing too! If you’re planning to freeze the baked cookies, wait to add icing until they are completely thawed.
You’ll be the star of the next cookie exchange with this deliciously spiced cookies! Happy baking 🙂
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Speculaas Spiced Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (192g)
- ½ cup almond flour (50g) or ground blanched almonds
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 3 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon aniseed powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature (113g)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (170g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
For the icing:
- ¼ to ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 - 2 teaspoons milk or cream
Instructions
To make the cookies:
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, pepper, aniseed, cardamom and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the butter and sugar. Beat until lightened and well blended. Add the vanilla and egg and mix just until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low until incorporated.
- Divide the mixture in two, and form each into a flat disc. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Working with one disc at a time, roll the dough out on a heavily floured work surface to the desired thickness, ⅛” to ¼”.
If using a cookie cutter:
- Cut the dough into the desired shapes and place on the prepared cookie sheet about 1-inch apart. Freeze the unbaked cookies for at least 1 hour before baking.
If using a mold or cookie stamp:
- If using a springerle mold, brush the mold or stamp with a light coating of flour. Lightly sprinkle flour over the top of the rolled out cookie dough. The thickness of the dough will all depend on the style of mold you are using and how deep the impression needs to be. To experiment, use about ¼th of the dough disc to start until you determine how thick it needs to be. The cookies are crunchy so you want them thick enough to hold the design but not so thick you can’t bite them easily. Press the mold firmly and evenly into the dough, then remove. Cut around the design with a knife or pastry wheel. Transfer the cookies to the prepared pan and freeze for at least 30 minutes (best frozen longer) to help retain their intricate design while baking.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Place 1 sheet of cookies in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 250°F. Bake until the cookies are set and just beginning to turn light brown around the edges. My cookies baked for 50-55 minutes.
- Remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
To ice the cookies:
- To ice the cut out cookies, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk. Add more sugar or milk until you reach a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over the cookies. Allow to set for several hours or until the icing is firm.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to a week. Cookies may be frozen for up to 30 days in a well sealed container. The cookies are best if frozen before icing. Drizzle with icing after thawing to serve.
- Recipe makes 2 to 4 dozen cookies depending on the size and thickness of the cookies.
Recipe Notes
- Use 1 1/2 tablespoons speculaas spice in place of the cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, white pepper, aniseed powder and cardamom
- Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour
Nutrition
Featured Spice Mix from King Arthur Flour
For an authentic flavored cookie, try this Speculaas spice blend, or make your own with ground cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, white pepper, aniseed powder (or ground mace) and cardamom. See the cookie recipe for amounts. Click on the photo to purchase from Amazon, or check the King Arthur website for pricing and shipping charges.
*Saving Room for Dessert is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program ~ I earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you, which I use to pay for web hosting and services for this blog. Thanks for supporting SRFD!
We enjoy a well spiced dessert and have a great fondness for these traditional Gingerbread Cookies. Another favorite are these Lebkuchen which are German spice cookies that date back to the 1400’s. Ignore the old, terrible photos in that post – the cookies are great!
For another delicious treat, try this Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Cream. If you love ginger and molasses, and a cake that’s not too sweet, this simple one-bowl Gingerbread is for you.
Finally, don’t miss this pretty Gingerbread Roll with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling. This is a delightful dessert that’s not too sweet, is loaded with warm, aromatic spices and flavored with just the right amount of molasses.
Here are a few more recipes you might also enjoy:
Italian Fig Cookies
Zimtsterne – Cinnamon Stars
Lorraine says
I just want to say “thank you” for taking the time to test and update this recipe! I have been looking for a good recipe for years. I rolled my dough to 1/4″, then stamped and cut with a round cookie cutter around the stamp shapes. The stamp print was so beautiful with this dough. They turned out amazing and we had fun making them. So easy when you have great instructions and the taste was sooooo good!
Tricia Buice says
Thank you Lorraine! I’m thrilled you enjoyed making (and eating) these beautiful cookies. Have a wonderful holiday season and happy baking 😁
Manu says
I love speculoos/speculaas cookies and have been trying multiple recipes, this one hits the spot with respect to the taste i first got when i tried authentic speculaas cookies. One question, these are very crispy and nice, but what if i want to make them soft and chewy? Is there a way?
Tricia Buice says
Hi Manu. I have never tried making these into a soft and chewy cookie. I don’t think the shape would hold in a mold as well if the dough is softer. Typically to make a cookie softer you add an extra egg yolk, more butter or fat and sometimes cornstarch helps. If looking for a good cookie with great flavor that is soft and chewy, try our Molasses Cookies. You can change up the amount of spice to suit your taste without drastically affecting the consistency. Good luck!
Pattie | Share the Recipe says
This recipe is different from the recipe I use. I like the addition of almond flour. Thanks for sharing.
Tricia Buice says
Thank you Pattie.
Susan says
I’ve always wanted one of those molds, Tricia! Yours turned out so beautifully that I may need to gift myself one this season 🙂 Love gingerbread and speculaas cookies!
Tricia Buice says
Thanks Susan. I bet you’ll love the molds too. Enjoy!
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
That is a beautiful mold Tricia! And those cookies sound fabulous. Lots of spice this year and I am liking it!
Tricia Buice says
Thanks Abbe!
Alene says
I’m going to be a pain, but do any of your readers have an idea about how to turn these into gluten free cookies? They sound divine. I’ve not had luck with just using a gluten free flour mix in cookies in place of all purpose flour. Just wondering. ?
Tricia Buice says
Hi Alene – sorry you haven’t had good luck with gluten free flours. I think the Bob’s Red Mill brands are highly rated, so if you haven’t tried their flours, perhaps you can for this recipe. These cookies also use ground almond flour os perhaps that will change the outcome when combined with gluten-free mix. Good luck and hope one of our readers can help!
Alene says
Thank you so much for your quick response. I think I do have Bob’s all purpose g.f., so I will give that one a try. I have so many g.f. flours in my pantry, and it would be nice to use some up!
John / Kitchen Riffs says
King Arthur really is an excellent company. Their flour is super, and their recipes always work. And that’s a really neat mold! This is a terrific recipe — I’ve had this cookie before, but only bakery versions — never made my own. But I gotta! Thanks.
Tricia Buice says
Thank you John!
Steven Dotsch says
Some great looking cookies, Tricia. Well done.
I am afraid there is a major difference between traditional Belgian Speculoos and Dutch Speculaas spice mix. In the ‘olden days’ Speculoos only contained cassia – the most popular form of cinnamon. While Speculaas is traditionally a spice mix with between 5 – 7 different spices. For more on this: https://www.speculaasspice.co.uk/blog/what-are-speculaas-biscuits
May I suggest people look at the ingredients list of Lotus Biscoff cookies to see what I mean.
Lots of families and bakers in The Netherlands had there own speculaas spice mix. Uniquely though my Dutch granmother’s sweet tasting spice mix contains nine different spices. Updated to include only organic spices and real cinnamon from Sri Lanka I launched the vandotsch speculaas spice mix in 2014. Later on I added a number of traditional wooden moulds to make Dutch speculaas biscuits / cookies.
Kind regards
Steven Dotsch
The Speculaas Spice ‘Master Chef’
The Speculaas Spice Company Ltd.
https://www.speculaasspice.co.uk
https://twitter.com/vanDotschSpices
Tricia Buice says
Fascinating information Steven. Thank you so much and happy holidays.
Gerlinde says
Tricia, speculass are common cookies in Germany. I love those Sprinkeler forms. I used to have some but have no idea what I did with them. Thanks for the recipe. Pinned!
Tricia Buice says
Thank you Gerlinde, for pinning and reading! I would love to see your molds, no doubt they are from Germany. Enjoy 🙂
mimi rippee says
Oh that mold! So beautiful! I’ve purchased these cookies to make a pie, I think, or maybe to add to rum balls? In any case, home-made would of course be better. And I love that spice mixture!
Tricia Buice says
Thanks Mimi! These are terrific cookies and I hope you get the chance to try them for the holidays.
Monique says
They look fabulous.I just made a choco glazed speculaas recipe for cookies and they turned out well also.Love when things WORK:)
Happy Holidays!
Tricia Buice says
Me too Monique – thanks!
handmade by amalia says
You can buy Lotus cookies around here as well but they are not nearly as pretty as yours. These are gorgeous and, as always, so beautifully styled.
Amalia
xo
Tricia Buice says
Thanks Amalia – hope you are doing great!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
Wow! Simply stunning cookies and now I’m lusting after those molds, too 🙂 Perfect cookies for the season.
Tricia Buice says
Thanks Jennifer – bet you would love them!
angiesrecipes says
These cookies are a MUST here in Germany. Yours look authentic and delicious, Tricia.
Tricia Buice says
Thanks so much Angie – I’m thrilled with these cookies and so happy they look authentic!
Chris Scheuer says
Biscoff cookies are my favorite cookies ever. I’m thrilled that you researched and found the perfect recipe, can’t wait to try it. Only I will have to hide them from myself!
Tricia Buice says
I hear you Chris! So glad my husband went nuts for these – they disappeared quickly!