I love Dutch speculaas cookies, They are a yummy spiced cookie, sometimes made with ground nuts, but not always. Perhaps it depends on the region.
I decided to change them up a little and use ground roasted hazelnuts. I love the toasty nutty flavour of brown butter so i used that too to enhance the nutty flavour, which was lovely with the hazelnuts and spices.
They have a nice snap if you are looking for a crunchier Christmas cookie. If you love the idea of brown butter but want a softer gingerbread then i have a recipe that might be for you here.
They are simple to make, However the brown butter and grounding and toasting the hazelnuts takes a little extra time, i feel its worth it.
Preparing the brown butter
When you make brown butter the volume reduces so you need to start with more butter than you actually need for the recipe. Different brands of butter may have different quantities of fat, so it can be hard to give exact measurements. For this recipe i have found that using 150g of butter makes the 115g of whipped brown butter we need.
Cut the butter into small cubes then add it in a pan, and melt it. once melted start swirling the pan around over the heat, the butter will start to colour and bubble up. listening to the sound of it can help determine when its done as it will stop bubbling and go silent when its done. Once the butter has browned you have to move fast to remove it from the heat so it does not continue browning and start to burn. Pour it straight into a cold bowl.
To use the butter for the recipe it needs to chill for a bit so it can be whipped. I chill it for 20 minutes and then mix it to distribute the flecks of brown fat solids and then i chill it again until it is the consistency of softened butter, like butter cream. Then its ready to use.
Spices
I like to be quite heavy with the spices when i make cookies like this, but feel free to use less or use a spice mix. You can purchase ready mixed speculaas spice mixes i have seen them on amazon.
White pepper is quite traditional to these types of cookies but it can be left out.
You can also make your own spice mix so you have it ready to use.
Nuts
For this recipe i roasted whole blanched hazelnuts and then ground them in a food processor until fine. Alternatively you can use 65g of ground almonds if you prefer.
Hazelnut brown butter speculaas cookies
25
servings50
minutes8
minutesIngredients
150g unsalted butter
45g dark brown sugar
45g soft light brown sugar
60g caster sugar
1 large egg
65g whole blanched hazelnuts
185g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 – 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground star anise
1/4 tsp ground all spice or clove
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Directions
- For this recipe i have found that using 150g of butter makes the 115g of whipped brown butter we need.
Add the butter in a pan, and melt it, while swirling the pan around over the heat the butter will start to colour and bubble up. listening to the sound of it can help determine when its done as it will stop bubbling when its done.
immediately pour the brown butter into a bowl. Chill for 20/30 minutes then mix together to distribute the brown flecks, then chill for another 20 minutes. Mix it to check its firm enough to whip. you want the brown butter to be firmer like softened butter (like if you were making buttercream). - Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan stirring so they don’t burn until golden, or toast in an oven for 10-15 minutes. let them cool then grind in a food processor so you have a fine sand like powder.
- Weigh out 115g of the brown butter and whisk with the sugar until pale and fluffy
- Add the egg and mix scraping around the bowl to make sure all the wet ingredients are combined.
- Mix the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and ground hazelnuts and spices together and mix into the wet ingredients so they come together to form a soft dough
- Flatten the ball of dough into a disk and cover with plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours or over night. (the dough is better colder if you are shaping them.
- Preheat the oven to 180c FAN 350f
- Using a wooden speculaas mould shape the dough. To do this flour the wooden mould and press in the dough and then tap the shapes out. Place on a lined baking tray. Sometimes i find rolling a rolling pin over them while they are in the mould helps. i like to chill these in the freezer if i am using a mould to help stop them spreading.
Alternatively roll out dough on a floured surface and cut shapes out with cookie cutters
Bake cookies for approx 8 minutes depending on their size. These cookies can spread if they are not super cold from the freezer, i often make them as rounds and then bake them and drizzle over icing.
Notes
- You can add the zest of an orange or clementine to add a citrus flavour
- you can also switch hazelnuts for ground almonds.
