Speculoos cookies can be found in every supermarket the weeks before Christmas. If you prefer making these delicious cookies yourself, you can use our simple Speculoos Cookies recipe here and have delicious cookies on the table in no time. With the right equipment, these cookies are super easy to bake!

Even though the speculoos cookies from the supermarket are usually delicious and not very expensive, sometimes you might want to bake them yourself. Whether it’s because you generally prefer to make everything at home, or simply because you can’t get them at the supermarket. There are people who might want speculoos cookies in June and don’t want to wait until Christmas. ;P
Admittedly, speculoos and other Christmas cookies are available starting at the end of summer. So if you’re into all these Christmas treats, you usually only have to endure a short dry spell from January to August. The rest of the year, you can get pretty much anything your heart desires. If you bake yourself, you don’t have to stick to any seasons. Your own oven can produce cookies and other treats any day of the year! ;P

Anyway. Speculoos can be made in many shapes and sizes, depending on your mood. We baked them round with a snowflake pattern here. Most people probably know speculoos (from the supermarket) as little houses, windmills, and stuff like that. These shapes are quite easy to make with a speculoos roller*. We simply cut out round cookies and then pressed a pattern into the dough with a cookie stamp*. It works great and looks just as good.
Alternatively, you could use a patterned rolling pin* to press the pattern into a larger layer of dough and then cut out cookies with a cookie cutter. That turns out very nice looking as well. Which method you prefer is up to you. If you’d rather make plain cookies without any patterns, you can do that too, of course. ;P
In case you want to bake even more Christmas cookies, take a look at these recipes as well. Our simple Spritz Cookies with Chocolate are classic Christmas cookies everyone loves. They should not be missing on Santa’s Christmas cookie plate.
If you like things a little more colorful, you might want to take a look at our Xmas Wreath Cookies. These are simple Spitzbuben cookies, jazzed up with a few pistachios and cranberries. So cute!
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(about 25 cookies)
1.7 oz. (50g) ground hazelnuts
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup (140g) sugar
0.2 oz. (5g) speculoos spice* (see note)
1/2 organic lemon, zest
1 pinch of salt
1 medium egg
1/2 cup (120g) butter, at room temperature (plus more if needed)
Note: You can make speculoos spice from scratch, if you can’t find it in stores. The list of spices needed is listed below.
(etwa 25 Kekse)
50g Haselnüsse, gemahlen
250g Mehl (Type 405)
1 TL Backpulver
140g Zucker
5g Spekulatiusgewürz* (s. Hinweis)
1/2 Bio-Zitrone, Abrieb
1 Prise Salz
1 Ei (M)
120g weiche Butter, ggf. etwas mehr
Hinweis: Spekulatiusgewürz kann man auch selbst zubereiten. Das Rezept für die Gewürzmischung findet man weiter unten.
For the speculoos spice mix:
1 oz. ground cinnamon
0.35 oz. ground cloves
0.35 oz. ground mace
0.35 oz. ground ginger
0.2 oz. ground cardamom
0.2 oz. ground pepper
Für die Spekulatiusgewürzmischung:
30g Zimt, gemahlen
10g Nelken, gemahlen
10g Muskatblüte, gemahlen
10g Ingwer, gemahlen
5g Kardamom, gemahlen
5g Pfeffer, gemahlen


DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Roast the ground hazelnuts in a non-stick frying pan (without the addition of fat) until fragrant and lightly golden. Set aside and let cool down.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, speculoos spice, lemon zest, salt and the roasted hazelnuts in a large bowl. Add the egg and soft butter and knead until you get a nice, smooth dough. Add some more butter if the dough is too crumbly and won’t come together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350˚F). Line two baking sheets with baking parchment and set them aside.
4. Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface. Cut out cookies in any shape you like and press a pattern into the dough (if you like). You can also use a speculoos rolling pin* to do the job. Place the cookies on the baking sheets and bake them for about 9-10 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool down on a wire rack.
Tips:
+ if you want to press patterns into the cookie dough, it can happen that the patterns disappear during baking. To avoid that a bit, cool the cookies before baking.
+ store the cookies in a cookie box without any other cookies
1. Die gemahlenen Haselnüsse in einer beschichteten Pfanne (ohne Fett) kurz anrösten, bis sie etwas Farbe bekommen haben und anfangen zu duften. Vom Herd nehmen und abkühlen lassen.
2. Mehl, Backpulver, Zucker, Spekulatiusgewürz, Zitronenschale, Salz und Haselnüsse in einer großen Schüssel vermischen. Das Ei und die weiche Butter dazugeben und alles zu einem glatten Teig verkneten. Sollte der Teig nicht richtig zusammenhalten und bröseln, noch etwas weiche Butter einarbeiten. Den Teig in Klarsichtfolie einschlagen und für mindestens 30 Minuten in den Kühlschrank legen.
3. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Zwei Backbleche mit Backpapier auslegen und zur Seite stellen.
4. Den Teig auf einer bemehlten Fläche dünn ausrollen und die Kekse in beliebigen Formen ausstechen und ggf. Muster in den Teig drücken oder mit einer Spekulatiuswalze* arbeiten. Die Teigstücke auf die Bleche legen und für etwa 9-10 Minuten backen – die Kekse sollten ein wenig Farbe bekommen haben. Aus dem Ofen holen und die Kekse dann auf Kuchengittern abkühlen lassen.
Tipps:
+ Wenn man ein Muster in einen Keksteig presst, kann es passieren, dass das beim Backen etwas zerläuft. Stellt man die Kekse vor dem Backen noch einmal in den Kühlschrank, kann man dem Zerlaufen etwas entgegenwirken.
+ Die Kekse sollten in einer gut schließenden Keksdose ohne andere Kekse/Plätzchen aufbewahrt werden.

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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
Print
Gingery Cookies aka. Speculoos Cookies
- Prep Time: 00:20
- Cook Time: 00:10
- Total Time: 01:00
- Yield: 25
- Category: Christmas Cookies
- Cuisine: Germany
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A classic German Christmas cookies everybody loves! Speculoos Cookies aka. Spekulatius aka. Gingery Cookies are simply the best. Homemade so much better than store-bought!
Ingredients
1.7 oz. (50g) ground hazelnuts
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup (140g) sugar
0.2 oz. (5g) speculoos spice* (see note)
1/2 organic lemon, zest
1 pinch of salt
1 medium egg
1/2 cup (120g) butter, at room temperature (plus more if needed)
Instructions
1. Roast the ground hazelnuts in a non-stick frying pan (without the addition of fat) until fragrant and lightly golden. Set aside and let cool down.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, speculoos spice, lemon zest, salt and the roasted hazelnuts in a large bowl. Add the egg and soft butter and knead until you get a nice, smooth dough. Add some more butter if the dough is too crumbly and won’t come together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350˚F). Line two baking sheets with baking parchment and set them aside.
4. Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface. Cut out cookies in any shape you like and press a pattern into the dough (if you like). You can also use a speculoos rolling pin* to do the job. Place the cookies on the baking sheets and bake them for about 9-10 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool down on a wire rack.
Notes
+ if you want to press patterns into the cookie dough, it can happen that the patterns disappear during baking. To avoid that a bit, cool the cookies before baking.
+ store the cookies in a cookie box without any other cookies
Links marked with an asterisk (*) are affiliate links (advertising/Werbung) to Amazon Germany. If you click on one of those links and buy something via this link, I will get a commission for that sale. The price of whatever you buy is not affected in any way by this.
Danke für dieses Rezept! Wollte schon immer mal selber Spekulatius machen, habe mich aber nie rangetraut! Und das Problem mit den zu großen Packungen habe ich auch – ich kenne niemanden, der so viel Spekulatius isst :-)
Ja – unmöglich solche Riesenpackungen :P
Selbst machen ist auf jeden Fall eine gute Option!
LG
Marc