Spekulatius cookies, also known as Spekulaas, are a popular Christmas treat in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. They are buttery and crisp and make an excellent match with warm coffee, tea or hot chocolate.
Instructions
Preparing the dough
1. Cut the butter into small pieces.
2. On a clean, flat work surface, mix the flour, ground almonds, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, nutmeg and butter. Use a large knife to cut through the ingredients, mixing them together.
3. Crack the egg over the mixture and use your hands to mash all the ingredients into a dough. The dough should be soft and smooth.
4. Wrap the dough in aluminum foil or wax paper and place in the fridge. Let sit for 2 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Lay a large piece of waxed paper on the flat work surface. If you'd like, spread some sliced almonds on the waxed paper.
7. Place dough (or a portion of the dough, depending on the size of your work surface) on the waxed paper over the almonds. Place another piece of waxed paper on top of the dough and roll it with a rolling pin until it's about 4 millimeters thick.
8. Use cookie cutters to form the dough into shapes. Repeat until all dough is formed into shapes.
9. Place 12 to 16 cookies (depending on size) on a greased baking sheet.
10. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are golden-brown. Repeat until all cookies are baked. This recipe yields 50 to 60 cookies.
Tags: waxed paper, work surface, depending size, flat work, flat work surface