Danish Spice Cookies (Speculoos)

We know Speculoos now as a world-famous brand that commercialized perfectly spiced cookie butter cookies. But did you know that their irresistible, incredibly delicious, and buttery treats trace their tradition back to Belgium? Traditionally, the Speculoos cookies were made and eaten during St. Nicholas’s Day. On this special day, each cookie was embossed with unique designs made from wooden molds, cookie stamps, or special rolling pins.

While the Danish Spice Cookies now don’t follow the same traditions, they still create perfectly crispy, crunchy, and caramelized cookies that are nothing short of irresistible.

The secret behind it is all the spice. In this recipe, we make use of no less than four spices, mainly, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom. We also add a hint of sweetness with the sugars and the vanilla extract.

If you want to add more spice, I recommend you create a cinnamon-sugar mix to sprinkle over your cookies after they’ve finished baking. Once you’re done, you can munch on as many of them as you want. I personally love dunking the Danish Spice Cookies in a hot beverage.

Because of its already complex flavor profile, I don’t like to mix this recipe with overly flavorful drinks. Instead, I find that a hot glass of milk or a freshly brewed cup of coffee pairs perfectly with these cookies. They immediately soften to melt easily in your mouth.

Every time I do the cookie-drink combo, I can’t seem to stop. Make extra batches if you have guests over. I promise you, one batch will not be enough!

Oh! And if you want to go all out, you can find traditional Danish presses online or you can press the cookies flat with the bottom of an interesting glass cup.

Danish Spice Cookies (Speculoos)

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Curious to see how the famous Speculoos cookies are made? This Danish Spice Cookies recipe will show you exactly how. Hint: there are so many different spices involved to give the cookies the wonderfully caramelized and perfectly spiced flavor that you’ll love.

• Author: Addie Gundry
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Chill Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Yield: 36 cookies 1x
• Category: Bakery

Ingredients

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• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• Cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

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Instructions

1. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well. Add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, and flour. Mix well.
2. Refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Using a cookie scoop, shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Use a cookie press or the bottom of a glass to flatten each ball until they are about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, until lightly golden brown around the edges.
6. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

I love dunking these cookies in a mug of hot coffee. Do you enjoy them that way or do you prefer to dunk them in a glass of cold milk? Or neither?