Speculoos Cookies Recipe

Speculoos is a home baker staple. Originating in Belgium and the Netherlands — akin to Dutch speculaas — these spiced cookies are tied to winter festivities and Saint Nicholas traditions, once pressed in carved wooden molds into rectangles and animal shapes. Here, fun cutouts turn that heritage into a modern holiday project. Drawing on those flavors, a simple dough of butter, brown sugar, and two types of flour (all-purpose and cake) with traditional speculoos spices becomes the base of these snappy cookies. 

Throughout this recipe, there are many intentional steps to deliver delicious cookies with clean lines for visually stunning cookies. The soft dough is rolled between parchment and chill thoroughly before cutting for sharp edges. Baking them until deep golden brown around the edges ensures that once the cookies cool, they will be crisp throughout — underbaking can leave you with slightly chewy centers and uneven-looking cookies. 

These cookies depart from traditional European speculoos in their royal-icing decoration. This royal icing recipe uses meringue powder instead of raw egg whites, making the icing more stable yet still easy to work with. Pipe outlines and details, then thin the icing slightly to flood. The cookies dry to a smooth, professional finish. Even shaky piping will shine under a coat of sanding sugar. A single icing shade feels minimal and chic, while swirls of color and a dusting of luster dust create a night-sky effect. Bake and decorate the cookies ahead, then package them for holiday gifts or a cookie box. 

What’s the difference between speculoos and gingerbread? 

Speculoos and gingerbread share warm spices, but they’re not the same cookie. Speculoos, is a Belgian-Dutch cookie that is thin, crisp, sandy, snappy, and buttery, with caramel notes from brown sugar and a cinnamon-forward spice blend; it usually contains little to no molasses. Gingerbread, on the other hand, leans ginger-first and relies on molasses for a darker color, deeper sweetness, and a chewy or cakelike texture. Gingerbread is often built for cutouts and houses, while speculoos are stamped or rolled very thin.

The best way to ice cookies 

Creating the desired piping consistency is the key to success when decorating with royal icing. Add more powdered sugar if it is too thin for your needs, or continue to add water if it’s too thick. Keep bowls of icing covered using a wet kitchen towel so it doesn’t dry out as you are using it. To apply icing, fill a disposable piping bag(s) with royal icing, and snip a small opening from the tip to pipe onto cookies.

For piping lines, icing should be thick enough to hold its shape but thin enough to pipe in a smooth continuous line — about the consistency of mayonnaise. You’ll know it’s right if a ribbon of icing drizzled over the surface takes 25 seconds or more to blend back in. For ultra thin lines, I use an Ateco No. 1 round decorating tip. 

For freely moving icing that fills surfaces, aim for the consistency of pancake batter (icing drizzled over the surface should take 12 to 15 seconds to blend back in). Pipe an outline around the edge of the cookie, then pipe more icing to mostly fill the area inside the border. Use a wooden toothpick to spread icing into any gaps. (This consistency may also be used to pipe details on cookies, though lines will be less crisp.)

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

• Freeze your cut dough on the pan for about 10 minutes or until firm before baking for slightly crisper edges.
• Add orange zest or lemon zest in the cookie dough for a pop of citrus flavor. 
• Keep bowls of icing covered with a wet kitchen towel so it doesn’t dry out as you pipe your cookies.

This recipe was developed by Zoë François; the text was written by Andee Gosnell.