For Mother's Day this past year my two daughters gave me an embossed rolling pin, the kind of rolling pin that imprints a pattern onto dough as you roll across. I decided I would try this rolling pin out on a new-to-me recipe for speculaas cookies. New things are always fun. And so I thought these would make a nice addition to our Christmas cookies.
Speculaas are known for their spices, their thin and crunchy texture, and sometimes their ornate patterns. This cookie is tied primarily to Dutch holiday tradition, although they're also commonly enjoyed in Belgium and Germany. In all three countries, these cookies are associated with St. Nicholas Day and Christmas.
It should be noted that speculaas and speculoos are not the same. While both are a thin, crispy, and spicy cookie, speculoos tend to be sweeter and less spicy, like Biscoff cookies, while speculaas are heavily-spiced and have a richer flavor and deeper color.
The spices in the recipe that I tried included cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, anise seed, black pepper and white pepper. I'm sure this is the most spices I've ever used in a dessert, both in variety and total amount. In addition to the spices, the recipe called for molasses, dark brown sugar, and cocoa powder -- deepening the flavor and color of the finished product. The resulting cookies are very flavorful as well as pretty.
The actual spices used in a blend for speculaas varies from one bakery to the next and one recipe to the next, creating a baker's identity or a signature flavor. Traditionally, speculaas were made by pressing the dough into hand-carved wooden molds, then turned out onto baking sheets to bake. You can still buy wooden cookie molds, but for home-baking, an embossed rolling pin creates cookies with intricate patterns and less work.
I froze most of these cookies to have closer to Christmas. But I may have to rethink that. In just a day and a half, we've eaten almost all of the ones I didn't freeze. These may be a Christmas cookie, but I can see me making these throughout winter as a nice treat to have with a cup of coffee or tea.
Those are new cookie types to me, but sound delicious. I certainly like Biscoff cookies. I see all sorts of possibilities with your fancy rolling pin. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI like Biscoff, too. So yummy and just the right size for a little treat. The rolling pin is a fun toy for me. I've got a few other recipes I can use it with.
Have a great weekend!
I love spice cookies, and these are so pretty. My menfolk (and I) like pfefferneuse, so I've made them a number of times, and those, like yours, also actually have pepper in them. It makes you scratch your head a little when you read it, but they wouldn't taste the same without it! :) Sara
ReplyDeleteHi Sara,
DeletePfefferneuse are also very good. I like that surprise flash of pepper in those and these cookies. I made the pfefferneuse when my kids were all younger. Unfortunately, they were too young to appreciate them. I m,ay have to try those again sometime. I think their tastes have grown since those days.
Have a wonderful weekend, Sara!
You have certainly made some beautiful cookies. I loved both of these last posts and am planning on making the star cookies. I love trying new flavors and experimenting with different techniques. Thank you for sharing! Have a wonderful weekend!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruthie,
DeleteThe star cookies are so pretty for something so simple, aren't they? I hope you have fun making them.
Enjoy the weekend, Ruthie!
Aldi has speculaas cookies, and I buy them every year. Love them! One of the few store-bought cookies I had as a kid were windmill cookies, which seem like a cousin to the speculaas. I'd be interested in this recipe, if you wouldn't mind sharing it. I had never thought to use cocoa powder to deepen the flavor of molasses, but that makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteThat's great that Aldi carries speculaas cookies. The windmill ones are also speculaas, according the internet.
I don't mind at all. Here's the link to the recipe:
https://www.embossedco.com/blogs/blog/top-5-embossed-rolling-pin-cookie-recipes?srsltid=AfmBOoqk4mTLs3EDPCnj8OIOzk3Qip-Tn_T5yflXufZHz47W0XJUEhiC
It's recipe number 4. It calls for blackstrap molasses, which I didn't have. I used regular molasses. I didn't bother with the rum-butter glaze. The cookies were tasty, as is. But the glaze might make them better, who knows.
From what I've read, speculaas are also just cut into shapes with cookie cutters, and don't need to have an imprinted design. When I rolled out my dough, I used a regular rolling pin to 1/4-inch thickness, then the embossed rolling pin flattened them out to close to 1/8-inch thickness, which seemed about right for the texture, hardness, and baking time. In my oven, 375 degrees F seemed too high. For the second round I lowered the temperature to 350 F. Have fun with these!