Recipe: Sophie's Festive Speculaas

Step 1

Take your Kenwood or Kitchen aid & put the K-paddle in.

Step 2

In a large bowl, sieve the flour & sieve the baking powder. Set aside.

Step 3

Put the softened butter in the fitting bowl together with the sugar. Mix it until it all is well combined.

Step 4

Add the beaten eggs & mix well.

Step 5

Add the speculaas spices & the sifted flour and baking powder. Mix until it all is well combined.

Step 6

It is now brown in colour. Place the mix onto a floured silpat with floured hands & mix well until you have a thick dough, for about 1 to 2 minutes. The dough will be very sticky. Place cling film all over & place into the fridge, on a plate, for at least 1 to 2 hours to stiffen up. You can also leave it overnight in the fridge. I never do. I can't wait that long!

Step 7

Preheat your oven to 175°C, ( 347 F ) if you are using a normal oven. 150°C ( 302 F ) fan oven, for 15 minutes. Take 2 oven racks out of the oven & lay silpats on them. I use a fan oven.

Step 8

Take your dough out of the fridge, open the cling film & slice 1 big piece, 1/3 th of the dough. Place the other dough back into the clingfilm & place into the fridge until you want another piece to work with. So, that the dough will stay firm. Now, lay your silpat in front of you on the table. Flour well. Flour the rolling pin & roll the dough out to 0,5 cm thick. With your favourite cookie cutters, cut out cookies & reuse the dough again & again until it is all used up. Do flour your Silpat from time to time, because you don't want the dough to stick. Place onto a silpat on an oven rack, well spaced apart, about 1 inch ( 2,5 cm ) apart & bake for about 13 to 15 minutes until browned & cooked through. In my case, it took every time 15 minutes. Take out of the oven & place onto wiring racks to cool down completely. Do the same to the rest of the dough.

Step 9

When the cookies are completely cold, place into cookie boxes to store or give them as presents.

Step 10

These are crunchy cookies & a bit soft in the middle.

Step 11

Enjoy with a good cup of coffee or an excellent cup of tea!

Step 12

These treats make excellent food gifts!

Step 13

To make your own speculaas spices: I have 1 recipe with not every spice in it, but you can make your own speculaas mix with: 4 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground cloves, 1 tablespoon ground ginger, 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg & 1 tablespoon ground cardamom. Mix all the spices well together & place in a fitting bowl & screw the lid well on. Shake well until all combined. Use 2 teaspoons. Enjoy!! It works really well!!!