These spiced speculoos cookies are wonderfully fragrant and nutty from a combination of ground toasted almonds and browned butter. The warm spices make the cookies perfect for dark wintry days when the sun sets too soon. This cookie has the perfect snap and tender crumb characteristic of speculoos.
And if you’re so inclined, these cookies hold up wonderfully to some decorations with a simple powdered sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice icing.
Brown Butter Almond Speculoos Cookies
Adapted from King Arthur
Ingredients
- 177g all purpose flour
- 46g almonds
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted browned butter, room temperature
- 105g granulated sugar
- 44g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- Spice blend: 3 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon clove, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper, ⅛ teaspoon five spice powder, and ¼ teaspoon cardamom
Instructions
- To brown the butter: Melt 113g butter in a saucepan. Continue heating until the butter bubbles and you see brown bits at the bottom of the pan. The butter will smell nutty. Pour the butter into a bowl and cool to solid room temperature.
- To make the almond meal: Roast 46g of almonds until fragrant and the skin cracks. Cool, then place in food processor (or coffee bean grinder) and process until a fine and floury. Do not over-process or you will end up with almond butter.
- To make the cookies: In a small bowl, combine the all purpose flour, almond meal, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Beat the browned butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, spice blend, and salt. Add the egg and mix until well combined. Stir in the flour mixture.
- Form the dough into two disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours or more.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment.
- Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick.
- Use any shape cookie cutter to cut out shapes.
- Re-roll scraps and repeat cutting out cookies.
- Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets and freeze for at least 15 minutes; this helps the cookies retain their shape while baking.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re light golden around the edges. Remove from oven and cool on the pan for five minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
