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Speculaas & Springerle Cookies

Dutch Speculaas

Course Dessert

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 tsp. ground cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp. ground mace
  • 1/4 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar 
  • 1/3 cup water

Instructions

  1. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, mace, white pepper, and cloves in a large bowl. 

  2. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy in a mixer with paddle attachment. Beat in half the flour mixture. Beat in water, then remaining flour mixture. Shape into 3 disks. Pat each to a 1-inch thickness, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour or over-night.

  3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

  4. Lightly dust countertop and springerle molds with confectioners' sugar or all-purpose flour. Roll out dough to a 1/4- to 3/8-inch thickness (deeper molds will need thicker dough). Press mold firmly into rolled dough. I gave it several really good presses to be sure all the details showed up well. (This dough can be stiff, so you may need to let it rest on your counter for a few minutes to make rolling and pressing a little easier. Gently coax the mold off of the rolled dough with fingertips. Use a sharp knife or cookie cutter to cut out pressed cookies and place onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Repeat, spacing cookies 1 inch apart, and placing same-size cookies on same sheet. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

  5. Place 1 sheet of cookies in oven, and immediately reduce temperature to 250 degrees. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are set and just beginning to turn light gold around edges, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

  6. Store in an air-tight container.