Speculaas (or Speculoos)

Speculaas is a wonderful spice cookie from Belgium and Holland. They are crisp and nutty and go very well with coffee. They are enjoyed year round, but I often make them at Christmas as part of my Christmas baking.

Speculaas

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ c flour
• 1 c dark brown sugar (packed)
• ½ tsp bks
• 1 ½ tbsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cloves
• ½ tsp ginger
• ½ tsp salt
• 10 tbsp (1 ¼ sticks) butter, cool but not cold, cut.
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp fresh finely grated orange zest
• Coarse sugar

Directions:

1. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Drop the butter over the dry mix and cut in into the mixture.
3. Add the beaten egg and orange zest and cut mixture again until just combined.
4. Knead dough just to bring it together (don’t overwork it) and form a ball, the dough should be sticky and break apart easily, but shouldn’t stick to your hands. 
5. Cover and chill for an hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease pans or line with parchment paper.
7. Take out dough a bit at a time, roll out on a floured work surface and cut into large heart shapes.
8. Place cookies on pans and dust with sugar. Bake for about 15 min – cookies should seem slightly overdone and deep brown.
9. Remove and cool.