Speculaas - Spiced Dutch Cookies / Windmill Cookies

I was really excited to see that Speculaas was one of the cookies chosen for this month’s Baking Partner’s Challenge. Ever since we moved to Amsterdam, I’ve been hearing and seeing these cookies in most of the supermarkets and wanted to give them a try at home. So here was my chance.

Speculaas or Speculoos are spiced biscuits that were traditionally baked for Sinterclass or St. Nicholas Feast, but are now available year round. These are also sometimes referred to as Windmill cookies, because of the special moulds from which they are cut out. These moulds are called speculaasplanks. They usually have an imprint of windmills or other figurines. These spiced cookies are nice and crunchy not like regular cookies that are crumbly.

I tried to find the special moulds in and around where I live but couldn’t find it. They were available online but were quite pricey, so I just decided to use some bottle lids to cut out the cookies. The whole house was fragrant with the aroma of the spices.

I pretty much followed the given recipe, except for a few changes. I substituted the eggs with milk and omitted the molasses. Now to the recipe:

What you'll need

1. All Purpose Flour – 1 ¾ cup
2. Butter – ½ cup
3. White Sugar – ¼ cup
4. Brown Sugar – ¾ cup
5. Baking Soda – ¼ tsp
6. Salt – ½ tsp
7. Speculaas Spice Mix – 1.5 tsp
8. Milk – 3 to 4 tbsp
9. Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp

Method

1. In a wide bowl, add the butter, sugar, salt, spice mix and baking soda and mix well until well incorporated.
2. Now add the flour, milk and vanilla essence and mix until all the dry flour is combined well.
3. Bring everything together into a ball and tightly wrap it with a cling wrap. Refrigerate for atleast minutes or even overnight. I rested the dough for 4 hours.
4. Preheat the oven at 375 F.
5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into ¼ inch thick disks and cut out cookies of desired shapes.
6. Place the cut cookies on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or till the outer edges of the cookies start browning. Do not over bake the cookies as they may turn very hard.
7. Remove and cool over wire rack. Store in airtight containers.

Note:

1. I used readymade spice mix as it was easily available. If you can’t find the spice mix, prepare your own fresh spice mix using the following spices:

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper