Speculaas Cookies

(190)
speculaas cookies
Photo: Ditte Isager
Yield:
32 cookies

When imprinting the fragrant spiced cookie dough with springerle molds, stop frequently to clean the patterns with the tip of a skewer. This allows for a better impression in the dough and resulting cookie.

Ingredients

  • 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger

  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom

  • ¼ teaspoon ground mace

  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

  • Pinch of ground cloves

  • 6 ounces (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar

  • cup water

  • Confectioners' sugar, for surface

Directions

  1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, mace, white pepper, and cloves in a large bowl.

  2. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in half the flour mixture. Beat in water, then remaining flour mixture. Shape into 3 disks. Pat each to a 1-inch thickness, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

  3. Dust surface and springerle mold lightly with confectioners' sugar. Roll out dough to a 1/4- to 3/8-inch thickness (deeper molds will need thicker dough). Cut a piece of dough about the size of the mold. Press mold firmly into dough, flip over, and gently roll over dough with a rolling pin. Flip over, and press onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a knife, trim excess dough. Gently coax dough out of mold with fingertips and onto a baking sheet. Repeat, spacing cookies 1 inch apart, and placing same-size cookies on same sheet. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

  4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 1 sheet of cookies in oven, and immediately reduce temperature to 250. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are set and just beginning to turn light gold around edges, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

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