Speculoos | Dutch Windmill Cookies

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Speculoos, also known as Speculaas or Dutch Windmill Cookies, are a holiday cookie that is traditionally made for the Feast of St. Nicholas in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria. They are a shortbread type cookie, with a lot of spices, like cinnamon, added, which makes them fragrant and tasty!

speculoos cookies on a plate

One of the best things about the holidays is making cookies. Every family has traditional cookies, like my great Aunt’s Gingersnap recipe or the Andes Mint Cookies my family bakes every year.

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But in addition to baking traditional family recipes it is also fun to try new recipes, especially ones from different countries. Making the treats of other countries, like these speculoos, is a great way learn about other cultures. Or maybe I just like an excuse to eat more dessert!

Speculoos Cookies

The first time I saw speculoos cookies was at Trader Joe’s. I was intrigued and had been looking for a new kind of cinnamon cookie to make. I decided I had to learn how to make this crispy European cookie.

What are Speculoos Cookies?

The cookies are thin, crunchy cookies, and are traditionally made in Europe. They are sort of like gingerbread, because of the spices, but are thin and crispy instead of soft and chewy.

The overwhelming flavor of speculoos is cinnamon and caramelized sugar, although the cookies also have nutmeg, ginger and cardamon spices. They make the house smell amazing as they bake!

spices in speculoos cookies

These cookies are most commonly made in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and Austria. Originally these were made to celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas and Christmas.

Why are These Cookies Know by so Many Different Names?

The cookies are known by different names in different countries. In Belgium they are called speculoos and in the Netherlands they are called speculaas. In Germany they are called spekulatius.

So what about the name Dutch windmill cookies? That seems to be mostly a U.S. thing. Some of the most popular commercial bakers of the cookies bake them in the shape of a windmill, leading to them being called windmill cookies.

closeup of speculoos stamped with a snowflake

Are Speculoos and Biscoff the Same?

Yes, biscoff is yet another name for the same cookie. Speculoos is the generic name of the cookie and Biscoff is a brand name from the largest company in Europe that makes and sells the cookies commercially. Confused yet?

Speculoos = Speculaas = Windmill Cookies = Biscoff

stamping the speculoos cookies

How are Speculoos Shaped?

Speculoos are traditionally not made with a cookie cutter, they are made with a mold or a stamp. Ideally you want something that is going to leave a an imprint on the surface of the biscuit. I have a snowflake cookie stamp that I rarely use, and speculoos was a perfect cookie for using it.

Another traditional way of making the cookies is to use a springerle rolling pin. A springerle rolling pin is a wooden rolling pin that imprints a pattern onto cookie dough. You then cut the cookies apart along the lines. If you are making a lot of speculoos a springerle rolling pin will be faster than a cookie stamp.

This summer I found a springerle rolling pin while cleaning my mother-in-laws basement. I believe it came from my husband’s grandmother, who was German. I can’t wait to try it out this holiday season!

springerle rolling pin on slate background

What if You Don’t Have Cookie Stamp or Springerle Rolling Pin?

Luckily there are alternatives if you don’t want to go out and buy a cookie stamp or springerle rolling pin just for this recipe. You can choose to ignore tradition and roll out the dough and cut it with cookie cutters.

Or you could roll them into balls and squish them with a drinking glass. Neither of these options will be as quite as pretty as traditional speculoos, but they will taste just as good.

How to Make Speculoos

1. Cream the Butter and Sugar

The first step is to cream the butter with white and brown sugar. And this cookie dough is better if you cream the butter and sugars thoroughly. Very, very thoroughly. Let them mix in a stand mixer for 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is light and lemony yellow.

ingredients for speculoos cookies

2. Mix in the Egg and Vanilla

Then mix in the egg and vanilla and let the mixer run for a couple minutes.

3. Add the Flour and Spices

In a small bowl combine the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamon and flour and mix. Then stir the flour mixture into the mixer bowl and combine. At this point you want to mix the dough as little as possible. Make sure all the flour is mixed in, but don’t over mix.

4. Chill the Dough

Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour. Chilling the dough makes it easier to handle and also helps keep it from rising or spreading. If the dough was to rise or spread the stamped design would be lost.

5. Shape the Dough

To use the cookie stamp I rolled the dough into small balls and then squished each one with the cookie stamp on a lightly floured table. Then I used a knife to transfer the round cookie to cookie sheets covered in parchment paper.

rolling the balls of dough for speculoos

I found that I needed to dip the cookie stamp in flour after every stamp. The flour got into every nook of the stamp, but there wasn’t a lot transferred to the surface of the cookie.

stamping the speculoos cookies

I also tried stamping the cookies directly on the cookie tray, but that didn’t work as well as stamping on the table and transferring the cookie sheet.

moving the speculoos to the cookie sheet

I haven’t tried using the springerle rolling pin yet. But I feel confident that using lots of flour on the rolling pin and table will be necessary, just as with the cookie stamps.

Speculoos - Dutch Windmill Cookies - a traditional stamped cinnamon and spice filled cookie from the Netherlands and Belgium - Speculaas - Make holiday cookies from around the world this Christmas

No matter how you shape the cookies you want the final cookie to be about 1/4 inch thick. These cookies are supposed to be thin and crispy.

6. Bake the Speculoos Cookies

Once the cookie sheet is full sprinkle the top of the cookies with extra cinnamon sugar, just to add more sparkle and spice to the cookie. The cookies bake at 375 F for about 11 minutes.

cookie sheet with speculoos cookie before baking

Serving Speculoos

These cookies were delicious, and the whole house smelled amazing while they baked, thanks to the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cardamon.

speculoos cookies with a snowflake stamp

These crispy cinnamon cookies are excellent for dunking into hot coffee or tea. They were also pretty addictive to eat, so I ended up having my daughter take the speculoos back to her apartment, so I would stop eating them!

Cookies Make the Perfect Gift

I love to share homemade cookies with my friends and family! Food is a great way to bring people together during the holiday season, either in person or from a distance.

Why not bake some cookies this year and put together a cookie gift box for your friends? Here are some cookie recipe ideas for gift giving!

speculoos cookies with a snowflake stamp
4.53 from 118 votes

Speculoos

Published By Anne
Speculoos, also known as Speculaas or Windmill Cookies, are a holiday cookie that is traditionally made for the Feast of St. Nicholas in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time11 minutes
Chilling1 hour
Total Time1 hour 31 minutes
Servings: 36
Print Save Rate Pin

Ingredients
 

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • cinnamon sugar

Instructions

  • Cream the butter with the sugar until well mixed. Really, really well mixed, cream for 5-10 minutes in a stand mixer until the mixture is lemon yellow and fluffy.
    1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup white sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
    1 egg, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • In a separate bowl combine the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamon and flour. Then add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl. Mix until the flour is just mixed in, but don’t over mix.
    1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cardamom, 1 3/4 cup flour
  • Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 F.
  • Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Place the dough balls on a well floured table or pastry board.
  • Use a cookie stamp to flatten the balls until they are 1/4 inch thick. Keep the cookie stamp well floured, dipping in flour after every use. Use a knife to move the stamped cookies to a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.
  • You can also use a springerle rolling pin or cookie cutters to shape the cookies if you don’t have cookie stamp.
  • Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with cinnamon sugar.
    cinnamon sugar
  • Bake for 11 minutes, until lightly brown around the edges.

Video

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Nutrition Information

Calories: 76kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 63mg | Potassium: 16mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 86IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.4mg

Nutrition facts are estimates.

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plate of speculoos cookies
Speculoos, also known as Speculaas or Dutch Windmill Cookies, are a holiday cookie that is traditionally made for the Feast of St. Nicholas in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria. They are a shortbread type cookie, with a lot of spices, like cinnamon, added, which makes them fragrant and tasty! #cookies #christmascookies #speculoos #speculaas #windmillcookies
anne

Hi, I’m Anne!

I love to cook and I want to share my recipes with you. I believe cooking should be approachable and fun, not a chore. I want to make simple recipes using everyday ingredients that you can make again and again, whether it is for a busy weeknight, a summer cookout or a special dessert. Read more...

56 thoughts on “Speculoos | Dutch Windmill Cookies”

  1. I really wanted that cookie stamp because it is stylized. But both links are for other stamps. Any idea where it can be found these days?

    Reply
  2. Made these because I wanted to test out my new cookie stamps, but they expanded so much in the oven you can’t see the design tasty cookies still

    Reply
  3. I honestly never even knew there was such a thing as a cookie stamp! Now I want one for sure to make this recipe which sounds so great for fall and winter. Can’t wait to try these speculoos.

    Reply
  4. This is a fantastic recipe! The flavor is superb. The only issue that I had was that they simply didn’t hold the imprint of the stamp. I made sure to press down hard and I could definitely see the imprint on the dough prior to baking. I also tried chilling the stamped cookies a second time in the fridge for about 20 minutes prior to baking thinking it would help, but no luck. Is there a special trick to getting these to keep their stamps?
    Thank you for sharing this recipe!

    Reply
  5. Well, I wouldn’t make these again. Cookies did not hold stamp well, even when making sure to really press down. Dough was very hard to handle. Also, I’m not sure if the author’s stamp is much smaller than mine, but I only got about 15 cookies out of this recipe. They taste good enough though. Wish I’d read some more of the comments before baking these, it seems like most of the people who left positive comments didn’t actually make the cookies.

    Reply
  6. It says to cream until “lemon yellow and fluffy”. I could get it fluffy but the lemon yellow was impossible with the brown sugar. Should I have creamed it without the brown sugar first? Instructions don’t say to.

    Reply
  7. Ok they came out perfect!
    I wish there was a way to post a picture. I bought a wooden windmill mold and there was a learning curve but in the end I figured it out. I think my mold was a little large because I doubled the recipe and still only got 24 out of it. But it’s kind of good though because it is time consuming and I wouldn’t wanted to stand there making more. The flavor is great nice amount of spices.I made others before using a press and special speculoos spice that had pepper. I can’t decide which way I like it best. I think I’ll try this recipe with the speculoos spice and see which one I like best. This recipe in general I like best and will make it my go to.

    Reply

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