These traditional Belgian Speculoos Cookies (also know as Biscoff Cookies) are super easy to make at home. Packed with spices and deep caramel flavours, these Speculoos are incredibly addictive and fun to make!
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Being from Belgium, I feel a deep connection to Speculoos. And I honestly could passionately talk about them (and how they compare to commercialised Lotus Biscoff cookies) for hours.
Speculoos are part of our every day life in Belgium. They are served with every coffee you could order from a cafe or restaurant (hence their commercialised name of "bis-coff": BIScuit for COFFee).
What a better way to celebrate these cookies than by making some at home from scratch? And bonus point: this speculoos cookies recipe is super easy to make!
What are Speculoos
Speculoos, also known as Speculaas, Spekulatius or Dutch Windmill Cookies in the Netherlands and Germany, are traditional Belgian spiced cookies served around the end of the year Holidays (St. Nicholas / Christmas).
They are know for their fragrant spiced flavour and deep caramelised taste. Speculoos are traditionally made with wooden cookie molds or embossed rolling pins that give them varied and decorated shapes.
The original Speculoos are said to have been shaped as Saint Nicholas, the saint celebrated around Christmas in Belgium, Netherlands and parts of Germany.
Ingredients
What are Speculoos made of:
Scroll down to recipe card below for all quantities
- Butter: unsalted butter, soft.
- Sugar: for the most traditional version of these cookies, use Belgian Cassonade sugar which comes from sugar beet (more about cassonade below). Alternatively, use dark brown sugar or muscavado sugar.
- Egg: large egg, at room temperature.
- Flour, Salt & Baking Soda: I used plain / all-purpose flour but this recipe will work with cake flour as well. Some versions of speculoos cookies are also made with whole wheat flour.
- Spice Mix: being such an old recipe, there is no "one" spice mix combination but many variations, depending on the region and personal preference. See below my choice of spice.
There are two crucial ingredients that make Speculoos Speculoos: the dark Cassonade Sugar (or Brown Vergeoise Sugar) and the mix of spices.
Speculoos Spice Mix
I used a combination of ground:
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Clove
- Ginger
- Star Anise
There are many other spices that can be found in Speculoos such as coriander powder, white pepper, cardamom, fennel powder,... You can really play around and come up with your own spice blend!
Note that the Cinnamon found in Belgium / Netherlands is different than the one found in other countries like the US. In Belgium, a variety of cinnamon called "Cassia" is used as opposed to Ceylon cinnamon (that originates from Sri Lanka).
Cassonade / Vergeoise Sugar
The biggest challenge in making a Speculoos recipe outside of Europe is finding the right sugar. The one typically used in Belgium is made from Sugar Beet as opposed to Sugar Cane.
This sugar is called Cassonade (or Cassonade Graeffe) in Belgium and Vergeoise in France. You could also find it under the name "Candi Sugar", though Candi is usually not fine sugar but a rough, rock sugar. Note that in France, cassonade usually refers to raw sugar cane sugar and not a sugar beet one - I know, confusing!
Brown Cassonade has a a deep caramel flavour and a specific texture that is more sandy than crunchy. If you cannot find Belgian Cassonade, simply use a Dark Brown Sugar or Muscavado Sugar instead.
Speculoos Shape & Mold
Lotus Biscoff may be relatively plain looking, original Speculoos Cookies come in a huge variety of decorated shapes such as persons, animals, vegetation, buildings etc... The traditional way to shape speculoos is with wooden molds.
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Those cookie molds can be hard (close to impossible) to find outside of Europe and require a bit of experience / experimenting to use. Alternatively, you can use a combination of embossed rolling pin and cookie cutter like I did here. Or just a cookie cutter - your cookies will taste just as delicious!
How to make Speculoos Cookies
- Photo 1: Start by combining all the dry ingredients - flour, salt, baking soda and spices - in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Photo 2: In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), cream the soft butter and sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed until you get a thick paste. It should take about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Photo 3: Add the egg and slowly mix until combined.
- Photo 4: Add the spice and flour mixture.
- Photo 5: Mix on the lowest speed until a rough dough comes together. It will be relatively soft and sticky and you shouldn't see any streaks of flour anymore.
- Photo 6: Transfer the dough between two large sheets of parchment paper / baking paper. Roughly flatten with your hands then use a rolling pin to roll into a large disc that is about 6 mm thick (1/4 inch).
I recommend using a rolling pin with thickness rings for even cookies.
- Photo 7: Optionally, remove the top layer of baking paper and go over the dough with an embossed rolling pin to create a pattern. It will need to be pressed in quite well to keep the pattern after baking, but try not to compress the dough too much.
- Place the rolled dough over a large baking sheet and transfer in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours. I highly recommend chilling the dough overnight, it will help with flavour development.
- Preheat your oven on 160 degrees Celsius / 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a flat baking tray with baking paper. For the best results, I highly recommend using a perforated baking tray combined with a perforated baking mat.
- Remove from the fridge and gently peel off the parchment paper.
- Photo 8: Using a rectangular fluted cookie cutter (or a cookie cutter of your choice), cut out the dough and place over the prepared baking sheet. Leave a bit of room between each cookie as they will spread a little bit.
Any leftover dough can be re-rolled, chilled and cut for more cookies.
- Bake for 14 to 15 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown. The cookies will feel a little bit soft in the middle, that's normal. Place on a wire rack and leave to cool down completely before serving or placing in an airtight container to store.
Recipe FAQs
Biscoff is a brand name given to traditional Belgian Speculoos Cookies by the Belgian company Lotus when they commercialised their product outside of Europe. All biscoff cookies are speculoos, but not all speculoos are biscoff!
Speculoos are Belgian while Speculaas are Dutch. Although very similar, their respective recipes can slightly vary in terms of spices.
Some source will say that Belgian Speculoos only contain cinnamon (probably because the brand Lotus Biscoff is only made with cinnamon) but I can assure you than most "artisan" speculoos are made with a lot more spices than that.
They do look similar and are both spiced cookies but are quite different in taste, texture and look.
Tips & Troubleshooting
- If you cannot find Belgian Cassonade or Vergeoise Sugar, you can use a dark brown sugar or muscavado sugar for a close caramel taste. Some recipes will tell you to caramelise white sugar in the oven instead but I personally find dark brown sugar to be a good substitute.
- Even though the cookie dough can be baked as soon as cold (about 1 hour in the fridge), I highly recommend resting and chilling the dough overnight. I will make a massive difference in both taste and colour as the flour rehydrates and the spices infuse the dough.
- If using an embossed rolling pin to decorate the cookies, you will need to press it into the dough quite deeply. The cookies tend to spread a little bit so any "light" pattern will tend to blend into the rest of the cookie. Be careful not to flatten the dough too much while rolling it though, or initially roll it more thick than required.
Storing & Freezing
These speculoos cookies are best eaten within a week. Store in an air-tight container to keep fresh. The cookies do tend to get a bit more soft after a few days, that's normal!
You can also freeze the cookie dough, either as one large disk rolled flat (wrap in plastic wrap once fully frozen) or once cut out. Allow to thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.
Recipes using Speculoos Biscoff Cookies
I am so excited to share that my debut cookbook
"Bite-Sized French Pastries for the Beginner Baker"
is now available for purchase!
Recipe
Homemade Speculoos Cookies (Biscoff)
Ingredients
Dry Mix
- 250 gr Plain / All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 generous pinch Fine Table Salt
- 2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Star Anise Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Clove
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
Wet Ingredients
- 200 gr Brown Cassonade / Vergeoise Sugar (see note 1), or Dark Brown Sugar / Muscavado Sugar
- 120 gr Unsalted Butter, very soft
- 1 large Egg, at room temperature
Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda and spices) in a bowl. Whisk to distribute and set aside.
- Place the soft butter and sugar in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). With a hand mixer set on medium speed, cream the soft butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until you get a thick paste.
- Add the egg and mix on low speed until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients mixture. Mix on the lowest speed until a rough dough comes together (see note 2).
- Transfer the dough between two large sheets of baking paper. Roughly flatten with your hands then use a rolling pin to roll into a large disc that is about 6 mm or 1/4 inch thick (see note 3).
- Optional, if using an embossed rolling pin: remove the top layer of baking paper and go over the dough with the embossed rolling pin to create a pattern. It will need to be pressed in quite well to keep the pattern after baking, but try not to flatten the dough too much. If the dough get thiner, adjust the baking time accordingly.
- Place on top of a flat tray and transfer in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight (see note 4).
- Preheat your oven on 160 degrees Celsius / 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a flat baking tray with baking paper (see note 5).
- Remove from the fridge and gently peel off the parchment paper. Using a rectangular fluted cookie cutter (or a cookie cutter of your choice), cut out the dough and place over the prepared baking sheet. Leave a bit of room between each cookie as they will spread a little bit.Any leftover dough can be re-rolled, chilled and cut for more cookies.
- Bake for 14 to 15 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Place on a wire rack and leave to cool down completely before serving.
Video
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Notes
- The traditional way of making Speculoos is with Brown Cassonade (Belgian name) / Brown Vergeoise (French name) which is a type of sugar produced through sugar beets. It can be hard to find outside of Europe so if you do not have this particular type of sugar, use Dark Brown Sugar or alternatively Muscavado Sugar for a relatively similar flavour.
- The dough should be relatively soft and sticky. You shouldn't see any streaks of flour anymore.
- I recommend using a rolling pin with thickness rings for even cookies.
- I highly recommend resting and chilling the dough overnight. I will make a massive difference in both taste and colour as the flour rehydrates and the spices infuse the dough.
- For the best results, I highly recommend using a perforated baking tray combined with a perforated baking mat.
Nutrition (per serving)
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