TOP-3 recipes for making Speculatius cookies for Christmas and St. Nicholas Day. Tips and Secrets. Video recipes.
Biscuits Speculos or Speculos (in French speculoos), Speculas (in Dutch speculaas), Speculos (in German spekulatius) are spicy crispy cookies. The pastries come from Belgium and the Netherlands, where they were originally baked for St. Nicholas Day. In Germany and Denmark, food was traditionally baked for Christmas. However, these days cookies are common in many European countries and are sold all year round. Cooking it is not at all difficult. The main thing is to know useful tips and proven secrets.
Tips and secrets from experienced chefs
- Speculatius - spicy curly gingerbread cookies, which are traditionally given to each other as a sign of attention, decorate the Christmas tree and treat children on December 6, St. Nicholas Day according to the Julian calendar.
- The dough for him consists of flour, baking powder, sugar (mainly brown), butter and spices.
- Cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, white pepper are used as spices.
- Often almond flour, nuts are added to the dough, and almond leaves are sprinkled on top of the cookies.
- On St. Nicholas Day, rectangular cookies are cut out of the dough with motives from the life of St. Nicholas: a peasant yard, a ship, an elephant, a horse, a mill and other items. For this, special stamped wooden forms are used, which are pressed into the dough sprinkled with flour. Then cut off the protruding excess dough and knock the cookies out of the molds.
- On Christmas days, cookies are cut out in special shapes in the form of stars, animals, men, mittens, Christmas trees and other New Year's paraphernalia.
- The crisp texture of the products depends on the amount of added sugar and oil. The more of these foods, the better. However, it is important not to overdo it, otherwise the dough will be tiny. If the dough is crumbling, add a little water: 1 tbsp. for 250 g of flour.
- For crumbly cookies, use flour with a low gluten level (28-34%) and chill in the refrigerator before baking.
- If the dough heats up during molding, stop the process and put it in the refrigerator for a while. Therefore, it is better to shape products quickly.
- The cookie will hold its shape if baked at a high temperature between 200 ° C and 240 ° C in a well-heated oven.
- The baking tray does not need to be greased, because the dough contains enough oil.
- The finished biscuits should be thin and crunchy.
- Store cookies in airtight containers to keep them fresh and dry longer.
Spicy cookies Speculatius for St. Nicholas Day
Spicy curly gingerbreads Speculatius with cardamom, cinnamon and cloves … these are sure to please children.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 569 kcal.
- Servings - 20
- Cooking time - 1 hour
Ingredients:
- Flour - 250 g
- Ground cinnamon - 0.5 tsp
- Almond essence - 1 drop
- Vanilla sugar - 5 g
- Ground cloves - 0.25 tsp
- Sugar - 125 g
- Butter - 100 g
- Ground cardamom - 0.25 tsp
- Baking powder - 1 tsp
- Eggs - 1 pc.
Making Spicy Speculatius Cookies:
- Sift flour and mix with baking powder.
- Add vanilla sugar, ground cardamom, cloves and cinnamon.
- Add almond essence with eggs and knead the flour crumbs.
- Finely chop the cold butter and spread evenly over the flour crumbs.
- Knead quickly to smooth dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll the chilled dough thinly, cut the figurines with special wooden forms, which are placed on a baking sheet.
- Bake Speculatius cookies in a preheated oven to 200 degrees for 10 minutes.
Speculator with nuts
The walnuts added to the dough add extra flavor and aroma to the baked goods. If desired, the surface of the biscuits can be glazed.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 500 g
- Butter - 200 g
- Eggs - 2 pcs.
- Ground walnuts - 50 g
- Baking powder - 2 tsp
- Sugar -250 g
- Vanilla sugar - 0.5 tsp
- Cardamom - 0.25 tsp
- Ground cloves - 0.25 tsp
- Ground cinnamon - 1 tsp
Cooking the Speculatius with nuts:
- Combine all dry ingredients: flour, nuts, baking powder, sugar, vanillin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon.
- Add eggs and toss with your fingers.
- Cut the butter into slices, add to the food and quickly knead the dough so that it is smooth and does not stick to your hands.
- Put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Roll out the finished dough thinly and cut out the figures, which are laid out on a baking sheet.
- Send it to the preheated oven to 190 degrees and bake for 10 minutes.
Speculator for Christmas in German
German Christmas cookies Speculatius crispy and aromatic. It will be especially appreciated by lovers of cinnamon baked goods.
Ingredients:
- Butter - 220 g
- Powdered sugar - 125 g
- Eggs - 1 pc.
- Flour - 330 g
- Ground cinnamon - 1 g
- Ground cardamom - 1 g
- Ground nutmeg - 1 g
- Ground cloves - a pinch
- Ground ginger - 1 g
- Salt - a pinch
Cooking Speculators for Christmas in German:
- Beat butter at room temperature with powdered sugar with a mixer until fluffy.
- Add eggs and beat until smooth.
- Mix the flour with all the spices with salt and sift into the oil mixture.
- Knead a soft dough, wrap it in a bag and refrigerate for 6 hours.
- Roll out the chilled dough to a thickness of 3 mm and cut out the cookies in the form of stars or Christmas trees.
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake at 200 ° C for no longer than 8-10 minutes.
