Every year when I make my Christmas Cookies, I try out one or two new recipes. Or new-to-me recipes. Some are traditional cookies, some are modern cookies. One of the two new types that I made this year are these: Speculaas (Dutch) aka Spekulatius (German). They are a traditional Dutch spice cookie, usually rolled very thin and then imprinted with a design. While I have a few imprinting rolling pins, my dough wasn’t cooperating particularly, so instead of the imprinting pin, I went with a Christmas-y cookie stamp. All the same in the end. These cookies are very nice, a lovely traditional spice and will definitely stay in the cookie madness repertoire.
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cardamom*
1 teaspoon cloves*
1 teaspoon nutmeg*
3 teaspoons cinnamon*
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (regular or low-fat, not nonfat)
*Or substitute 1 tablespoon Speculaas spice for the cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, spices, and salt. Stir in the flour, almond flour, and baking powder, then enough of the milk to make a stiff dough. Form the dough into two disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours or more.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick. If you have an imprinting rolling pin, run your final roll to imprint the cookies, then cut out shapes using your desired cutters, and transfer the cookies to the prepared pans. Chill for 10-15 a minimum of minutes (I actually keep them in the fridge overnight) before baking (otherwise the imprinting will wash out). Bake the cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, until they’re lightly browned around the edges. Remove them from the oven and transfer them to a rack to cool. As they cool, they’ll become quite crispy.
