Speculoos Cookies
Course:
Dessert
Cuisine:
German
Seasonal Event:
Christmas
Yield:
Makes 4 Dozen Small Cookies
German Christmas Spice Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 tablespoons (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly softer than room temperature
- ¾ cup (159g) dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- Zest ½ a lemon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (240g) unbleached, all purpose flour
- ½ cup (48g) almond flour (toast the flour for more flavor)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
DIRECTIONS:
- To Make the Cookies: in a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla, spices, and salt until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add the egg and continue mixing until well incorporated. Scrape down bottom and sides of bowl
- Add the flour, almond flour, and baking powder and until the dough just comes together.
- Transfer the dough to a few sheets of overlapped plastic wrap and fold over a few times to incorporate any patches of unincorporated flour and press into a smooth disk. Refrigerate for at least ½ hour to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 325°f. Line two half sheet pans with parchment.
- Using a traditional rolling pin, roll the dough out to ¼ inch thick. If using an impression pin, brush the pin with corn starch and, using even pressure, roll the pin across the dough, sprinkling with cornstarch as needed until the dough is about 1/8” thick and holds the impression. Using a small 2” round cutter, stamp out cookies and place about 1” apart on the cookie sheets. If using a pin with a shallow impression, allow the cookies to “dry” at room temperature for ½ hour before baking to set the impression. If using a deeper impression pin, bake immediately. If using only a traditional pin, roll the dough out to 1/8” thick and stamp out shapes as above.
- Bake cookies 10-15 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.