About this Dish
Belgium's iconic spiced biscuit — crispy, thin and flavoured with a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and cardamom, pressed into moulds of windmills and St Nicholas figures. Eaten at St Nicholas Day (December 6th) and throughout the winter. Speculoos paste (Lotus Biscoff spread) has conquered global coffee shops. The original biscuit remains far superior to its commercial descendants.
IngredientsServes 8
🌾Plain flour, 250g
🧈Unsalted butter, 150g, softened at room temperature
🟫Dark brown sugar (cassonade brune), 150g
🥚1 large egg
🍂Ground cinnamon, 2 tsp
🌰Ground ginger, 1 tsp
🫙Ground cloves, ½ tsp
🌿Ground cardamom, ½ tsp
🌰Freshly grated nutmeg, ¼ tsp
🧂Baking powder, ½ tsp, and a pinch of salt
Method
1
Beat the softened butter and dark brown sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. The cassonade brune is essential here — its deep molasses flavour is the backbone of a true speculoos.2
Beat in the egg, then sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, and all the spices. Mix until a smooth, firm dough forms. If it feels sticky, add a tablespoon of flour.3
Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight — resting develops the spice flavours dramatically.4
Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan). If you have wooden speculoos moulds, flour them well and press small portions of dough firmly in before unmoulding onto a lined baking tray. Without moulds, roll the dough out to about 3–4mm thickness on a lightly floured surface and cut into rectangles or shapes.5
Bake for 12–15 minutes until the biscuits are a deep golden-brown and smell intensely spiced. They will still feel slightly soft in the centre — this is correct, they firm up as they cool.6
Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before eating. They keep beautifully for two weeks in an airtight tin, and genuinely improve in flavour after a day as the spices mellow and deepen.7
Leave to cool fully on a wire rack before eating. Stored in an airtight tin, they actually improve over 2-3 days as the spices mellow and the texture becomes perfectly crisp.User Reviews
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