Speculaas secrets: The spicy Dutch tradition perfect for winter
Thin, crispy, and very spicy, these cookies are ideal for enjoying with coffee or tea on a chilly winter day. At least that's what the Dutch believe, as they can't imagine this time of year without speculaas. It's worth seeing if they're right.
Cookies baked in the shapes of various animals, human figures, St. Nicholas, windmills, houses, or rectangles with ornaments are undoubtedly one of the symbols of the Netherlands. Their history dates back to the 17th century and is linked to the Dutch East India Company, which had a monopoly on importing spices from Asia for decades. This made cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg, once available only to the wealthiest, widely accessible.
Dutch pastry chefs eagerly embraced these spices, best exemplified by speculaas cookies, initially baked mainly for Sinterklaas, celebrated in the Netherlands on December 5th, the eve of St. Nicholas Day. Later, these treats also started to appear on tables during the Christmas season.
Their shape often held symbolic meaning, such as a pig symbolizing a warning against greed, while a woman in long pants symbolized authoritarianism. Decorated with icing and nuts, speculaas are sometimes given by young men to their sweethearts as gifts.
Today, spicy cookies are available year-round and can be bought in numerous bakeries and delis. The residents of the Netherlands love to nibble on them with coffee or tea, although they also pair well with ice cream, especially creamy and vanilla flavours.
What's inside them
The ingredients for speculaas cookies are not complicated. To prepare them, you'll need wheat flour, butter, eggs, and sugar, preferably cane sugar, which gives the cookies a nice colour. Muscovado works great as it has a caramel-honey taste and a fairly sticky consistency.
Of course, traditional Dutch treats must include spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper, ginger, and cardamom. They not only enhance the taste and aroma of the cookies but also increase their nutritional value.
Cloves help fight hypertension and lower blood sugar and "bad" LDL cholesterol. Cinnamon is a treasure trove of polyphenols, which neutralize the harmful effects of free radicals and are responsible for accelerating the ageing process and the development of many diseases. Ginger improves blood circulation, aids digestion, and soothes nausea. Nutmeg contains a hallucinogenic substance called myristicin, making the spice calming and soothing, aiding sleep. Cardamom exhibits antidepressant properties – the essential oils in it effectively alleviate sadness and depression.
In Dutch stores, you can easily buy ready-made spice mixes for speculaas. This might be harder to find in Canada, but you can prepare it yourself. Just mix cinnamon (4 teaspoons) with nutmeg and cloves (1 teaspoon each), white pepper, ginger, and cardamom (0.5 teaspoons each). All spices should, of course, be powdered.
Online, you can buy special wooden moulds for speculaas in various shapes and with various ornaments. However, regular cookie or gingerbread cutters will also work.
Recipe for speculaas
Cream soft butter (about 250 grams) with brown sugar (2 cups) until light and fluffy. Add two eggs and mix thoroughly.
Combine wheat flour (about 400 grams), spice mix (2.5 tablespoons), baking soda (2.5 teaspoons), and salt (1 teaspoon), then add to the butter mixture. Mix until the dough starts pulling away from the bowl's sides. Then divide it into two parts, wrap each half in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight.
The next day, take out the first portion of the dough and leave it at room temperature for half an hour. When it's flexible enough, roll it out quite thinly to a thickness of about 3 millimetres. Cut shapes with a cutter or press the dough into speculaas moulds.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in an oven preheated to 177°C. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden.
Repeat the same with the second portion of dough.
