Name: Dutch Speculaas
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 300g flour; 100g brown sugar; 175g butter (in cubes); 4 tbsp Speculaas Spice Mix; Flaked almonds (optional); 10g ground cloves; 10g ground nutmeg; 30g ground cinnamon; 5g ground anise seeds; 5g ground coriander; 5g ground white (black) pepper

Speculaas is a traditional Dutch biscuit eaten at 'Sinterklaas' the 5th December. It has its own special spice mix which you can easily make at home. The spices are also available in bigger quantities saving you money!

Preparation

Sieve the flour into a bowl. Add the sugar, butter and spice mix. Knead with your hands (or use a food processor) until the mixture crumbles. Add around 2 tbsp very cold water and quickly knead (or blend) it, until you can form a ball with it. If you are doing it by hand (which is pretty simple), I find that holding your hands under cold running water before makes it even easier. Top tip!
Wrap the dough in cling film and leave for at least 8 hours (or overnight) allowing the flavours to infuse.

Line a square flat baking tray with baking paper and roll the dough to a thickness of around ½ inch (1cm).
Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes at 175C (gas mark 4).

Leave to cool on a baking rack. Break in chunks when cool.

Enjoy with hot chocolate (or any beverage you choose)!

Apparently you can substitute the butter with coconut oil to make a vegan version. But I haven’t tried that yet. If you have - let me know how you got on!

Preparing the Speculaas Spice Mix

Use this Dutch Speculaas spice mix for making Speculaas chunks or biscuits.

Blend all the spices together and use.

You can make your own variations, like more or less pepper, or more or less coriander. Whatever takes your fancy!

Most of these spices are also available in 500g or 1000g sizes or organic.
Please phone or ask a member of staff for more information.

Special Diets

When using the ingredients listed, this recipe is suitable for the following diets:
• Vegetarian

Please Note: May still contain traces of gluten, egg and dairy or other allergens. Before consumption always check the label of each individual product/ingredient for allergens.