22 Jan Speculaas Biscuits
Even if you think you don’t know speculaas, I’m sure you are familiar with the flavour. You know the biscuit you get sometimes with a coffee? It’s that biscuit; but this is the hearty, flakey, buttery, comforting and “get-in-my-mouth-now” version of said biscuit. If you don’t have an antique wooden plank especially for these biscuits then please leave now. Just kidding. You can cut any shape you like with a drinking glass, cookie cutter or rough shapes with a knife. Alternatively, bake the dough in one sheet and break into shards after cooking. If you want the flavours to really *pop* you can make the dough 2 days in advance to let the spices and butter get friendly with each other in the fridge.
Speculaas Biscuits
- 400 grams (3 cups) plain flour
- 225 grams (1 cup) golden caster sugar
- 190 grams (2/3 cup) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 45ml (2 1/2 tbsp) buttermilk (or 45 ml milk with 1/2 tsp vinegar)
- 3 1/2 tbsp spice blend (3tsp cinnamon; 2tsp ground clove; 2tsp nutmeg; 1tsp each of ground coriander, anis seed, ginger and ground cardamom)
- Lemon zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Rice flour for dusting (if using wooden speculaas plank)
1 Mix butter, sugar, lemon zest and salt in a bowl, then add the buttermilk, flour, spices and baking soda. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to mix into a dough, wrap it up in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
2 If using a wooden plank make sure you have rice flour handy. As this is a fine flour it helps to create a shield, easing the dough off the plank.
3 Preheat the oven to 170C or 150C fan-assisted.
4 Knead the dough briefly, introducing some warmth to make it easier to manipulate. Use your rice floured plank and push the dough into each shape firmly until full. Hold the plank at a diagonal and, using a knife, slice down the length of the plank to remove the excess dough. Turn the plank over and whack out the shapes onto your surface. If not using a plank simply roll the dough to the size of the tray you are using with a thickness of 2-5mm. Either cut into desired shaped or break into shards after cooking.
5 Bake the biscuits for 14-18 minutes and let cool on a wire rack.
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