Want to bake your own Biscoff cookies? Also known as Speculaas, Speculoos or Dutch Windmill Cookies, this easy recipe is perfect for the holidays! (Jump directly to the recipe.)
Back in 1989, when I was still a sophomore in high school and secretly listening to Debbie Gibson’s Electric Youth (though I told everyone that I was listening to New Order’s Technique) my parents dropped a bombshell on me. We were moving to The Netherlands for a year. My dad’s a science professor and he was taking a sabbatical year to do research in a different city. The last time this happened was a move to Chicago when I was in second grade and couldn’t verbalize my protests other than a temper tantrum or two. But as a sullen teenage, albeit one that listened to bubblegum pop, I was significantly more vocal about my displeasure of the move. However I didn’t have much choice in the matter and went kicking and dragging to the land of windmills, tulips and wooden shoes. Thankfully it worked out in the end and I fell in love with the country, the people (a few I’m still friends to this day), and yes the food, including the crisp spicy cookies called speculaas (sometimes spelled speculoos) that were traditionally served during the holiday season. Here in the U.S. they are often sold under the brand name Biscoff cookies, or as Dutch windmill cookies, but in my heart I’ll always call them speculaas.
In truth, I never really thought about making speculaas cookies for myself, until my friend Caitlin over at Cooking with Caitlin contacted me and said she was teaming up with Kroger for their iPad Holiday Around the World issue of their MyMagazine app. She asked if I wanted to contribute a recipe and I immediately knew I wanted to make speculaas cookies for the app. I’m joined with some other fantastic food bloggers, including Isabel From Family Foodie, Kris from Young Married Chic, Maggy from Three Many Cooks, Aran of Cannelle Vanille, and Coryanne from Kitchen Living with Coryanne who all created recipes inspired from different parts of the world, including Basque country, Africa and Portugal.
Making speculaas is super easy. Similar to American gingersnap cookies, the Dutch spice cookie is traditionally served over the holidays, specifically to celebrate St. Nicholas Eve, which is December 5th, though the cookies are sold year round. With the rise in popularity of Biscoff cookies, Biscoff Cookie Spread and all the various knockoffs (I believe even Trader Joe’s sells a cookie spread version) I’m surprised that I don’t see people baking speculaas cookies more; maybe because it’s so easy to buy the store bought ones.
Either way, I’m pretty thrilled to have an excuse to walk down memory lane by baking these cookies. I haven’t actually made it back to The Netherlands since I lived there over 20 years ago, but it’s nice to know that I can revisit my past by just baking these cookies. And even if you’ve never been to Holland, the minute they started to bake, your whole house will start to smell like Christmas. That alone is worth the effort.
You can download the Kroger MyMagazine app for the iPad for free at the Kroger website, or view the online PDF edition if you don’t own an iPad. Special thanks to Kroger and Caitlin for including me in this edition of the magazine.
And if you happen to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, feel free to stop by 18 Reasons Annual Holiday Cookie Swap on Saturday December 8th, from 2-4pm. I’ll be there, co-hosting with my partner-in-crime Melanie and the 18 Reasons staff. All are welcome, with or without cookies!
DUTCH SPECULAAS COOKIES (SOMETIMES SPELLED SPECULOOS, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS DUTCH WINDMILL OR BISCOFF COOKIES)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter 115 g or 1 stick
- 6 tablespoons white granulated sugar 75 g
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 165 g
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 235 g
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper of a silpat.
- Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes. Place in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugars, baking soda, salt, and spices. Cream butter and dry ingredients together on medium speed for 30 seconds or until the batter is uniform in color. Scrape down the sides with a large spatula and add the vanilla extract and egg and beat on medium speed until incorporated (about 30 more seconds). Scrape down the sides again and add the flour. Beat on medium speed until incorporated (about 30 more seconds)
- Split the cookie dough in half. If you using the springerle rolling pin, roll the dough out until 1/2 inch thick with a plain rolling pin. Liberally dust the springerle pin with flour then roll over the dough, pressing firmly to make a 1/4 inch thick cookie dough, with imprint. Cut the dough along the springerle grid lines with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. If using a cookie cutter, roll the dough out until 1/4 inch thick with a plain rolling pin and cut out cookies. If using a traditional speculaas cookie mold, roll the dough until 1/2 thick with a plain rolling pin. Lightly spray the mold with cooking oil, then liberally dust with all purpose flour (knocking out any loose flour once you’ve dusted it). Press the dough into the mold, remove excess dough of the back of the mold.
- Carefully move or unmold the cookie onto the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 10 minutes before the time is up, preheat the oven to 375˚F. Bake the cookies in the oven 9-11 minutes or until the cookies look golden brown on the edges. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving the cookies to a wire rack to cool to room temperature. The cookies will harden as they cool.
Notes
Baking sheet
Parchment paper or silpat
Stand mixer
Rolling pin
Springerle rolling pin, speculaas mold, cookie cutters or sharp knife
Erika says
Double yay! These definitely deserve a post all to themselves. If I really want to up the ante, I make brown butter first, then use that to make the speculoos. Warm toasty holiday cheer in one little package. Cheers!
Heibreg says
How do I make brown butter? Do u melt it, ?
Irvin says
Hi Heibreg. To make brown butter you cook the butter in a pan, letting it first melt then continue to cook so the butter fat solids start to brown. Once you notice browning of the butter (it will also start to smell nutty and fragrant), I turn the heat of the pan off and let the residual heat brown the rest of the butter fat. I try not to cook the butter too long, as it can go from brown butter to black butter (burnt) pretty fast.
If you do go the brown butter route with this recipe, I’d recommend letting the dough sit in the fridge for an hour or so to chill and firm up. When made with melted brown butter, this dough may be too soft to roll out properly and you may lose the pattern and indentions from the springerle rolling pin if you don’t.
Lora says
Fantastic. Make me miss Christmas in Germany. Our house is near the Dutch border so these were always around in early December. Beautiful job.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
You found the Biscoff secret?! Count me in!
Nicole @ Arctic Garden Studio says
I fell in love with Biscoff visiting Belgium many years ago. I loved the cookie shops with all the simple, but delightfully different cookies. The package ones just aren’t the same. Making them myself has been on my baking list for years. I admire your making it happen and not just buying them.
Pat says
I was a freak among my childhood friends for loving Dutch windmill cookies better than their more boring American choices! And I have a special love of nutmeg — which I’ve seen disparaged by a number of people lately — so this recipe is especially welcome this holiday time. Thanks, Irvin.
Kelly says
My favorite kitchen store in Philly, Fantes, has baking supplies from various traditions and cultures. I’d always stop to look at the intricately carved pins and assumed they were for plain shortbread, but never thought to look them up. These sound wonderful! I love adding black pepper to gingerbread; I’m sure it makes the flavor pop here too. Glad you could reconnect with fond memories. Happy Holidays, Irvin!
Margot @ Coffee & Vanilla says
Oh, I love speculoos!
What a nice rolling pin, must look for something similar.
Back home we are also celebrating St.Nicolas day, on the 6th of December… kids are always getting some little gifts and sweets under the pillow 🙂
Kathy - Panini Happy says
That’s the awesomest rolling pin I’ve ever seen! How cool. I was right there with you, rocking out to Electric Youth sophomore year in ’89. I think I still might even have that cologne in a box somewhere too, lol.
Belinda @zomppa says
How lovely the memories must be – the right smells – especially these cookies – will do it. I hope you were rocking it out to Debbie Gibson and her hat!
Naomi says
Oh my! I love this recipe… and I especially love the Springerle rolling pin.. where could I find one of those?
Irvin says
Probably the easiest place to get a Springerle rolling pin is online at Amazon or if you want to find something less mass market, there are a number of antique and vintage ones for sale on EBay.
Jenny says
How long will these keep?
Irvin says
Ooohhh… Good question. I’m not sure but my guess is about a week in an air tight container or ziplock bag. They harden and crisp up so moisture is their enemy, so if your home is humid or damp, the lifespan will shorten.
That said, I’ve also kept them in my freezer for up to two months and they defrost just fine without anyone noticing at all.
Kelly says
What a wonderful story, Irvin! I am savoring the cloves wafting through the post…
On behalf of the whole Cooking with Caitlin crew, THANK YOU for your extra special contribution to the app, and also for the generous nods throughout. We are deeelighted to be tangled up with you (and your speculaas). 🙂
Kelly
Megan says
Very interesting!! Last night I was reading the ingredients on the back of my “Cookie Butter” jar from Trader Joe’s. The first thing listed is “speculoos”. Then I noticed the word on the front of the jar. I was going to google the word today! That is a bizarre coincidence! I’m so glad you posted this!! Thanks! And I can’t wait to try out the recipe! Thanks again!
Jane says
On a cold, grey day in London I made these cookies this afternoon and they are truly delicious – a taste of Christmas in a mouthful – and they certainly do make the house smell divine. I’d never seen these rolling pins before but soon found one on Amazon. Thanks for the recipe Irvin, I shall definitely be making more of these in the next fortnight.
Irvin says
Yay! I’m so glad you made them Jane. Happy holidays!
Karen says
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve made three batches over the last week and given most of them away to friends and colleagues. I plan to bake even more for Christmas. I work for a Dutch owned corporation and the Dutch executives raved about these cookies. One asked for the recipe and I referred him to your website. Happy Holidays.
Heide M. says
Wish I had some of these cookies, love the designs. Where can you find one of those rolling pin?
Irvin says
I bought my pin at Lehman’s in Ohio, but you can get the one I bought on amazon as well.
That said if you search eBay you can totally find really cool vintage ones as well. Just search with the terms “Springerle Rolling Pin” and you can browse.
Kim says
I stumbled on this page by accident, live in SF, grew up in Cincy, and love to bake, and love those Bishoff cookies , yahooooo!
You Rock
Much thanks for the recipe
Kim
SK says
This is so inspiring… knowing that food blogs, when filled with enough passion (and proficiency) can really take off… I am a budding writer and have loved baking since I started with my mum as a child! Your blog shall be my vicarious mentor!
Joanna says
All I can say is….nice Hans Solo glass 🙂
and these cookies look awesome! Thanks for the recipe!
Liezl @ Two Suitcases and a Tin Pot says
Yeah, love how Han Solo made it in there! Thanks for sharing. I live in SA, but have been hearing about cookie butter, so wondered what exactly went in to speculaas.
irena says
just want to ask what are ground cloves? are you pertaining to garlic cloves?
thanks!
Irvin says
Nope! Cloves are an aromatic dried flower bud of a tree. They are hard and about the size of a peppercorn with at tail before they are ground. They are often used to flavor Indian and African cuisine. You can buy them already ground in the spice section or whole and grind them yourself. For more information, check out their “uses” section of their wikipedia page.
Irena says
Thanks a lot! I’ll go and try this recipe!
Chuck says
Aloha from the Big Island:
Now that we are hooked on the cookie butter from Trader Joe’s (which, sadly, we do NOT have in Hawai’i!), I did a search for Speculoos and this site came up. I have bookmarked the recipe and am going to make an attempt to make these. Not sure yet if I will buy the rolling pin first from Amazon, or just give it a go on my own. If they taste anything like that cookie butter from TJ’s…I have a feeling I will be making these a LOT! Big mahalos for posting this recipe!
Ana Luisa says
W-O-W !!! That´s pretty much how I feel about your blog… Great pics, amazing choice of recipes. I will start on the speculoos TODAY. Can´t wait to feel that spicy whiff in my kitchen!! Thank you for sharing the recipe and Kudos for your work 🙂
Marijke says
Great article on my favourite cookie. I make an even more spectacular version, by adding a layer of home made almon paste between 2 layers of cookie dough, yum.
Irvin says
That sounds lovely! And very Dutch of you!
Jess says
These were SO delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe. I made my first batch of these last weekend and will be making a QUADRUPLE batch this weekend for a cookie swap! 😀
Just a question: I used a fairly intricate cookie mold on the first batch, refrigerated as directed (actually, a bit longer) and they still puffed up a lot. Any tips on keeping the imprint crisp, or do you know of any other cookie recipes that retain a crisp imprint?
This is the mold I used: http://houseonthehill.net/christmas/winter-sleigh-scene/
Irvin says
Whoa that ‘s a cool mold! So I would try experimenting a little with the cookie dough. First omit the baking soda then make sure to beat the absolute minimum. The more you mix the dough, the more air gets trapped into the dough, which causes it puff up when you bake it. If you have the arm power, you can even try hand mixing it, so it doesn’t get over worked, but that’s a lot of sweat!
I’d also leave the cookies in the fridge, uncovered, overnight. If that doesn’t work, try freezing the dough first and baking them directly from the freezer. Good luck and let me know how they turn out!
ana says
absolutely marvellous! thank you very much!:)
Doreen says
is the egg absolutely necessary for this recipe to work?
We have egg allergies in my family and I LOVE the Biscoff commercial cookies which don’t have egg.
I have used the powdered egg substitute at times but don’t always find the results to be the same.
thank you
Irvin says
Hi Doreen,
I think it would work without the egg but I haven’t actually tried it. An egg does two things, it binds the ingredients together and it tenderizes the cookies. Without the egg, you might need to mix the ingredients a little more or knead the dough with your hands a bit more to get it form a dough and the resulting cookie might be a little more shortbread like and more crumbly (not a bad thing, just slightly different). But I think it should work! If you try it without an egg, come back and tell me how it turns out!
And if the cookie is TOO crumbly or you have a hard time making the dough form, you could try making a “flax egg” by mixing 1 tablespoon of flax meal together with 1 tablespoon of water and letting it sit and gel. Once it’s thickened, scrape it into the dough in place of the egg. Or if you aren’t fond of the flavor of flax, you can make a “chia egg” by doing the same thing but grinding and adding 1 1/2 tablespoons of chia seeds to 1 tablespoon of water. Chia has a more neutral flavor.
Good luck!
Doreen says
Is the egg in this recipe absolutely necessary for it to work.
We have egg allergies in our family and this season I am looking for any all egg free cookies.
We love the commercial Biscoff cookies and their ingredients list does not have egg…
thanks
Terri says
I have been consistently making speculaas using your recipe for about six months now, with such delicious results every time! I’ve actually just finished off my latest batch for some Christmas gifts. I love using so many gorgeous spices – they make the whole house smell amazing! I’ve gotten so many great comments on these biscuits – and really I just thought I’d leave a bit of a ‘thank you’ to you, Irvin, for adding a really beautiful creation to my baking repertoire 😀
Merry Christmas!
Terri
Irvin says
Awww… Thank you so much! It’s comments like yours that makes blogging worth it. So thrilled you use and love my recipe! Happy holidays to you!
kj says
this is the BEST internet version of these spekulaas, the cookie of my childhood (in Canada)
GREAT traditional recipe.
For spicier cookies I
add Mace and
increase the ginger and pepper,
decrease the sugar by 2 tsp.
Jenny Kallista says
Hi Irvin!
I was craving Biscoffs (which I have Delta to thank for my enlightenment, believe it or not!), but I was wondering “how hard could they possibly be?”, when I set upon a little google search. Lo (or Lin!) and behold, I found you and your beautiful blog. I love your easy, comfortable writing style, and your photos are lovely. And the cookies! Well, I went ahead and found a vintage springerle pin on ebay and only once it arrived did I embark upon executing your recipe. I used freshly ground nutmeg and cloves (because I simply only had whole, so out with the mortar and pestle for the cloves, and put to use my new nutmeg mill I got for Christmas), the rest of the spices were pre-ground… well they were just as delicious as I had hoped. Thank you for your gorgeous contribution to the blogosphere of food!
louise says
Thanks. I live in italy and we can’t always get spekulaas here… Really only at Christmas … So I can make them early this year as a surprise for my bf! They’re one if the few biscuits he likes! Had to do without cardamon, cloves and cookie cutters but the result is still pretty good! Thanks!
Irvin says
Yay! I’m glad you liked them. Those spices aren’t super necessary, nor are the cookie cutters. Glad you could surprise your BF!
Kristen says
Thank you so much for this recipe, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for! One question though, what’s the best way to store these?
Moopsee says
Airtight is most critical. From there, longterm think freezer. I’m in a very dry area so just sealed up is most important. Good for weeks!!
Rosemary says
Hello Irvin found your website looking for spicy biscuits I make italian ones then dipped in chocolate told family you are getting this ones love the rolling pin will try find one. So many thanks from my little bit of paradise australia
Cheers
Rosie
Marilia Karpodini says
Just made these in my tiny student kitchen and OH MY GOD. They are the most fragrant and delicious cookies ever! You just made my day with this recipe!
Mandy says
My speculaas didn’t turn out 🙁
Definitely thinking the fault lies in what I did. Firstly I tried the melted brown butter suggested in an earlier comment. I’ve tried this approach with chocolate chip cookies and it worked a treat so felt confident. Secondly I had forgotten the baking soda so added that after the vanilla and egg (also my egg was medium to small).
The dough smelled and tasted amazing and was I feeling pretty confident. Then I refrigerated it which turned out to be for at least four hours. The dough was rock hard and was quite hard to manage after than. It was very crumbly and I had a lot of trouble rolling it. The end result were biscuits that looked and tasted great but were really hard with no crunch factor.
Just wondering if you can offer any reason for this? I’m even wondering if I may have inadvertently added too much flour, or maybe it was melting the butter first?
Or are spekulaas meant to be hard? My partner thinks they are fine but I would prefer a crunchy biscuit.
Also two more little questions if I may 🙂
I like a bit more salt to the taste..should I do that by using salted butter or adding salt?
Was also thinking of substituting a bit of the flour for almond meal..can you advise on how much? Was thinking of substituting 1/2 cup of flour for 1/2 almond meal.
Fantastic blog, by the way! Love this recipe so I would appreciate any advice you might have 🙂
Irvin says
Hi Mandy,
So there’s a lot of variables in your changes and I’m not sure what was the exact issue. Using small or medium eggs might have effected the dough as does the melting the butter and leaving the dough in the fridge. You might want to try the recipe exactly as it is written and see how it turns out first before changing things around. Certainly adding a little more salt (I’d opt for just adding the salt instead of using salted butter as you can’t control how much salt is in salted butter and different brands add different amounts of salt) won’t effect the cookie texture, just the flavor. Substituting almond meal will make the cookie more crumbly but a 1/2 cup isn’t too much, but if your dough is already crumbly to begin with, the almond flour is going to make it worse. Maybe try adding a touch of almond extract instead to give a hint of the almond flavor.
Anyway I hope all the above helps! Because of all the substitutions I just can’t pinpoint what might be the issue. The end resulting cookie when I make tends to be a crisp gingersnap like cookie, not super crunchy but not super hard either. It’s possible you might have overbaked them as well if they are too hard.
Mandy says
Thanks Irving! I tried the recipe as is and it turned out much, much better! I reckon it was the melted butter. Thanks so much for replying. I’ll try it with the almond meal and get back to you with the results!
Natalie says
Thanks Irving,
Not just for the fabulous recipe for speculoos cookie recipe, but for being geek enough to have a Han Solo coffee cup sitting next to your work surface!
Cheers,
Natalie
Irvin says
Ha! Yes, my partner AJ is a HUGE Star Wars fan. He quite excited about the new ones…
Natalie Kravetz says
Hee hee – he sounds like a keeper! Well, depending upon whether you actually *want* to attend cons, LOL!
Oh hey, about the pepper in the recipe – I’ve been trying to find an ingredient list for speculoos cookies with no luck, but I’m almost certain that the commercially made version doesn’t contain any pepper. I’ll just say it – I am NOT a pepper fan, nor do I find that there being a ‘bite’ to a cookie makes them more appealing. Though I must admit that I do love Nyacker gingersnaps; they are *just* this side of not-too-spicy. (Oh heck, I just realized that Nyacker gingersnaps would make absolutely fabulous cookie butter. But I digress.)
So, what do you think? Integral, essential part of the authentic speculoos cookie experience? Or meh, you can live without it?
Thanks sweetie! Love your blog – talk about fabulousness! YAY what a find!
Irvin says
Thankfully he’s not THAT hardcore a fan. We don’t attend any of the cons (though we did do ComicCon a few years ago and he was highly amused by all the Star Wars stuff).
As for the pepper, if you don’t like it than leave them out. I don’t think it’s integral (though I certainly like it in the cookie) but if it’s something you are strongly adverse to, then definitely don’t worry too much about it.
That said, the pepper is pretty subtle in the cookie. I like adding it not just because of the “bite” but because it’s gives the spices in the cookie a bit of a dimension. But with all the other spices in there, I don’t think anyone is going to miss it, especially if there isn’t a side-by-side comparison!
And there are a wide range of recipes out there for these cookies. Most (but not all) include white pepper in there. I added black pepper as well but the white pepper does have a sharpness that you can’t find in any of the other spices.
Natalie says
*SNORT* The Gastro HA! You are cracking me up over here. That’s just, oh, so awesome. Thank you for my ‘What the hell is she reading NOW?!? moment for the day.
Paula says
Discovered this recipe last Christmas and am making again this year because they are crazy delicious!! Have just trebled the recipe but have put it in the fridge as I find the recipe too sticky to roll out initially…I then just flour my board and so no more sticking!
Just a question though, do you think these would be ok to be flood iced? Or do you think that would make them overly sweet? I want to decorate to give as teacher gifts 🙂
Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe 🙂
Irvin says
Hi Paula,
I think they would be awesome flood iced! The cookies themselves aren’t super sweet so using royal icing on them would probably be fine. Plus they would be super tasty. Send some my way! 😉
Laura says
Hi Irvin!
I made these cookies last Christmas for my Dutch parents, and they loved them! I made them again this summer when some friends from the Netherlands were visiting, and they were very pleased and impressed with them! I’m getting ready to make a double batch of them now. I’m excited to give more away this year, including to my new boss, who is Dutch. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and helping me celebrate my Dutch heritage in such a yummy way!
Mel Carney says
Many, many thanks for this gorgeous recipe! I don’t know if anyone has already made this comment about the spelling… They’re called speculaas in Holland; the alternative spelling of speculoos is actually the Flemish (Belgian) name. 😉
Mila Brochku says
Thank you so much for this great recipe. They are delicious. I used my springerle molds (springerle cookies taste terrible) and it worked best with the dough rolled out not to thinly. I found it interesting that the spices were mixed with the butter instead of with the flour.
marcy goldman says
Great recipe and feature – do you know when Biscoff or Speculoos spread came about and what it’s relationship to the cookie itself is? (It’s also called Cookie Spread and is associated with the brand Biscoff Cookies)
thanks!
Irvin says
So Biscoff or Cookie Spread became popular about 4 or 5 years ago. It’s basically just the cookie ground up into a powder with butter or oil added to it to make is spreadable. You can find more information about the history of it at the Speculoos wikipedia page but there are actual recipes for it on the web.
nicolthepickle says
I’m making this recipe for the second time today. This is probably the best Speculaas recipe I’ve tried. Thank you. And I made it according to your recipe exactly.
In most of my speculaas recipes I usually add a little ground anise or anise extract.
Marilia Karpodini says
This recipe is amazing! It has never failed me even in the hot as hell Greek summer the dough turned out fine !!! Grats on this recipe and keep up the good work ^^ (I get to eat 1 cookie per batch because everyone devours them as soon as they are out haha)
Holly says
I just made these for the first time. They’re a little spicy for me, only because I don’t like ginger, but my Dutch father-in-law and Husband both LOVED them!! As did the rest of the whole family, children included
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Jessica says
Hi, I know I’m super late to the party, but I’m hoping you can answer a question for me anyway! I’m pretty set on making these as my food gift for the office this year, but one of my coworkers is gluten-free. If I substitute the flour for almond flour, do I need to make other adjustments?
I looked around online and found varying answers about how to substitute almond flour for all purpose, as well as several speculoos recipes that are made with almond meal…but none looked quite as delicious as yours.
Thank you!
Mila Brochku says
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. The first time I made these was at Christmas last year using my lovely wooden Springele mold. This Halloween I made them (Spookulaas ha ha) using Day of the Dead cookie cutters. The cookies were so beautiful they didn’t need icing, in fact they looked much better without the icing. Oh and they tasted divine too.
Lynne says
Irvin, I’m excited to make these cookies. I come from a Swedish background and the Windmill cookies I grew up on had little bits of shaved almonds in them. Do you think that would be a problem adding some to this recipe? Thanks.
Maureen says
Hello Irvin,
I first tried Biscoff cookies in a Taipei cafe around Yong Kang Jie. The owners gave them away as an extra treat for regular customers…and I was definitely a regular!
It’s been 4 years since I stepped foot in that cafe and I got a hankering for those tasty ginger cookies with a satisfying snap that were at the same time buttery and melt in your mouth. Searching online for a DIY recipe- there you were!
So inspired by your blog post I began a hunt for a Springerle rolling pin… my god what fun! It took me weeks to find one that was in one piece, not run of the mill, not over 300USD and it arrived in the mail today!!! A true work of art shipped across the continent- it must be over a hundred years old. There are so many gorgeous rolling pins out there, I’m afraid and excited that this may be the first in my collection…certainly not my last.
I’ll make my first batch tomorrow! Thank you for opening my eyes to this new world of tasty possibilities.
Consider yourself super cinnamony hugged,
Maureen
Sharon says
Hi Irvin,
I am so excited to have found this blog for multiple reasons! First, my husband and world travel obsessed grown son recently got back from a trip to eastern Europe. We drank a ton of coffee and I always loved how it was served in cafes with the little silver trays and these cookies. After getting back home to Plano TX, I noticed the Biscoff cookies at my local grocery store and since it said “Europe’s favorite cookie with coffee” , I thought I would give them a try. We all loved them, and also tried the chocolate dipped ones, which the men really love. Needless to say, I’m lucky to get one cookie because they disappear so fast.
So this weekend, while fulfilling my other obsession, Buna Bean coffee (from Ennis TX- it is the best!!!!! found at Central Market and I cannot wait to meet the rep next Friday when she is demonstrating her product at the store, but I digress…) we somehow made the connection by talking/researching, that these cookies were called speculoos. I was familiar with the term, but had always wondered what the heck they were from the Trader Joe’s cookie butter. What an “A ha” moment !
Then when I came across your recipe and blog, AND saw the rolling pin, I almost cried, because I actually have this rolling pin gathering dust in my drawer for like 20 years, never knowing what it was for. It was my mom’s (or her mom’s?) but I have no recollection of her using it to make cookies, and only a vague recollection of her using it to roll pie crusts when I was very young, along with some Tupperware plastic dough rolling mat, (I just pulled it out and it says Rexall Drug and Chemical Company 1965). My mom HATED to cook, and unfortunately passed that on to me, however, I have learned over the years, and now enjoy baking and cooking at least some of the time, especially now that I have two grown men who really love and appreciate it when I do.
I will try out this recipe today, and cannot wait to use the rolling pin. Mom and Grandma will be smiling down from above…
Tom says
As a european in the US at christmas i often miss those christmas flavours i’ve grown up knowing. Discovered this recipes and just knocked up a batch now. They are are excellent, slightly disappointed i don’t have that wonderfull roller you have but they still taste great.
recipe worked really well, will do again (with a little less clove: personal preference).
Lucy says
I tried this recipe. Flavor was great but don’t know wh my the cookie came out really hard and tough. It wasn’t light or snap. I did taking out the baking soda so that it would spread. Could that be it? Did I over cook? I make them about 1/4 in thick
Ju says
Hi,
When your recipe says beat the eggs with the dry ingredients, does that mean I need to change out the paddle attachment? Or do I use the paddle attachment through out the recipe?
Thanks… Cant wait to make some!
Irvin says
No changing necessary! You beat the eggs in with the paddle attachment and use it throughout the entire recipe!
Chapelle says
All butter is important, isn’t it? I cut the butter with shortening as my mother-in-law does and the cookies spread. I used all your spices and the flavor is fantastic! All butter next time!
Brooke says
I’ve made this recipe several times and it’s never a disappointment. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful recipe! I often stash a log to slice-and-bake whenever I feel the need to bake. They keep up wonderfully and their flavor only intensifies with time.
Star says
What size do you have to make cookies for there to be 60?
Irvin says
Hi! So the rolling pin that I used in the recipe makes about 1″ x 1 1/2″ rectangles. So that’s about the size you have to make to make 60 cookies.
Star says
Actually I don’t have one of those rolling pins so what size cookie cutter would work?
Star says
What size do you have to make cookies for there to be 60 of them?
Star says
Whoops! I accidentally said that twice.
Julie says
Hey Irvin! I am making these for school and I would like an answer as soon a possibe if you can! i was wondering if you can use a cookie cutter in this recipe? Honestly I don’t think there will be a difference but I would like to be sure, Thank you!
Julie says
ahhh sorry I was rereading it through when i saw what you said, i can’t wait to try these out, i looked at two other sites with this recipe and this one has really good reviews than the other two!
Greg says
Just FYI,
Speculaas is Dutch and speculoos is Flemish.
Goede dag
Greg
Anuj @vsd closure says
Mouth mesmerizing.
Emily says
Hi! I’m hoping to make these and bring them to work on Wednesday, but would love to do half the work tonight. Does the dough keep well in the fridge? I’m wondering if I could make the dough and refrigerate it in a ball and then roll and imprint shapes tomorrow. What are your thoughts?
So excited to try this recipe!
Raquel D says
Hey, thanks so much for this awesome recipe! I didn’t use cardamom because I couldn’t find it in the grocery store nearby and I was in a bit of a hurry, and they still turned out amazing. Just one thing, maybe because I live in Brazil, and the climate is very warm, the dough was too soft, so I had to put it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before opening it and cutting. And when I put them in the oven they kinda melted before they began to bake, so i got worried for a little bit haha but in the end everything was fine and very tasty.
Susan says
I make these with a Chewbacca cookie cutter and call them Wookie Cookies. They are awesome, everyone loves them.
I don’t have a stand mixer, I use a combination of cutting in with butter knives, hand mixer and when my mixer seems like it’s going to start over-heating, I dig in with the hands. Then I refrigerate a bit before rolling out and cutting/baking.
Wish I could upload a photo…the wookie cookies are super cute!
Irvin says
Those sound adorable! My partner AJ is a massive Star Wars fan so he would love those! Thanks for letting me know and I’m glad you were able to make them work without a stand mixer! I’d love to see a photo of them. If you want to post one over on my Facebook page, or post it on your Instagram feed and tag me at @eatthelove that would be amazing. Otherwise I will just use my imagination!
Betsy D says
Best cookie dough ever!!!!!
Outrageously wonderful cookies. Thank you so much
Marisa Batool says
After looking around for the right recipe for biscoff cookies, I tried these yesterday and they turned out amazing. I also made a cookie butter this morning and it tastes wonderful. Thank you so much.
Paul says
Love the recipe! However, whenever I make them, the pattern that I press into them gets blown away with slight puffing up in the oven. Suggestions?
phrazle says
I used to try Dutch windmill biscuits. Your recipe is very detailed and easy to understand! But I still can’t do the fine pattern detail! Hopefully next time I will be more successful! Thank you very much!
Adrianne Nickerson says
Almond slices pressed into the dough by the mold is missing