Authentic Dutch speculaas cookies recipe

Are you familiar with those pretty Dutch windmill cookies? That’s speculaas! We love those cookies in the Netherlands, and I’ll share my recipe and a lot of tips and tricks with you.

Traditionally speculaas cookies are made in wooden molds that give it the specific shape. But no worries if you don’t have one, you can still enjoy an authentic Dutch speculaas cookie without it. For the best experience use my speculaas spice blend or – alternatively – go for the pumpkin pie spice blend. They are absolutely perfect for the holiday season.

We bake (and eat) a lot of them in the Netherlands especially during the feast of st. Nicholas (or Sinterklaas) but you can find them in the stores all year long. These traditional cookies are also perfect for Christmas season.

Make your own speculaas cookies

You can use any other kind of cookie mold for making these or even a cookie stamp will do the trick. But if you can get your hands on the specific wooden mold used (check the photos to see how it looks!) it would be even more fun to make these cookies.

The weird thing is that I bought a couple of those speculaas molds a while back and then for some reason I never got around to actually using them. I think I thought it would be hard to use. We’re all so used to baking with lots of different kinds of molds but never really wooden ones.

​But whatever what was holding me back was unnecessary as it was actually quite easy to bake with them. I’ll explain how to do it below.

Speculaas tips

It all starts with the speculaas mold. You have to “prepare” it and there are several ways to do this. These range from soaking the board in cold water overnight to rubbing it with vegetable oil. I also read that the board would become greasy naturally through use. That sounded the easiest, so I went with that.

This might cause the first few speculaas cookies to fail though, but I didn’t really care. After all, making speculaas is a case of ‘practice makes perfect’. This will work equally well for any gingerbread cookies you want to make using a wooden mold. The ingredients for both speculaas and gingerbread cookies are fairly similar.

Below you will find a few photos that show how to use the wooden mold. The tips I will give you have to do with preparing the cookie dough.

Make sure your dough is cold

For making these cookies, cold and firm dough is easiest to work with. It will hold its shape a little better when you are ‘cutting’ the speculaas and want to remove it from the mold. The longer you work with a piece of dough, the warmer it gets and the more pliable it becomes.

If this happens, just mix it with a fresh piece of (cold) dough and you will instantly find out it works a lot easier. Keep the dough in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap until you’re going to be using it.

Use the imprint

When you’re making the speculaas cookies using the wooden mold, you want the imprint of the wooden board to be as visible as possible. I like to use self-rising flour for these delicious cookies. And since self-rising flour also rises slightly it enhances the print of the cookies.

You could replace the self-rising flour with all purpose flour, but that would obviously affect the texture too and not only the look of the cookies.

Another tip: put the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator (or briefly in the freezer) for a while, so that they go into the oven as cold as possible. This will also help with getting a clear print.

Of course it is a cookie so keep in mind that the print will always become less visible during baking. But as you can see from the photos you can still very clearly see the shape and imprint of the cookie. As with any cookie you place them on a cookie sheet or baking sheet placed on parchment paper. Once baked let them cool down completely on a wire rack.

If you want to go and buy a speculaas mold (like one of those windmill cookie cutter shapes), you can also check if the print itself is deep enough. If it is too shallow it won’t have a really good end result. So a lot to consider when you’re searching for one!

Cookie cutters

Now if you don’t know where to find a traditional wooden mold or can’t be bothered but still want to make these delicious cookies? There is nothing wrong with using something as simple as a round cookie cutter or use other wooden moulds you can find.

Tips for working with a speculaas board

Dust with flour

Dust your speculaas board with flour and tap out the excess flour. Too much flour in the mold will result in your print not being properly visible. Too little flour will cause your speculaas to stick to the board more easily. It will take a few tries to find the right amount of flour.

How to place the dough in the mould

Take a ball of dough and shape it roughly into the shape of the cookie. Press the dough firmly into the mould and make sure there is enough dough. I personally like to have enough dough so it goes over the edges. I will cut the excess dough away but at least I know I have filled all the little nooks and crannies.

Cut the dough

Use a good sharp knife that is wider than the board. Hold it as flat as possible and carefully cut away the excess dough. During this step, you will find that it is especially nice to work with cool and firm dough. If the dough is warm and soft, your speculaas dough will easily deform.

Removing from the mold

Turn the wooden mold over and tap it firmly on the counter. Hold the mold as flat as possible over the counter or your hand. If only the edges of the cookie come off, you can gently help remove the dough from the mold.

More speculaas recipes

Like speculaas? I have many more delicious recipes online that are sure to please you. For all of them you will need my speculaas spice mix, which is SO delicious (and easy) to make yourself. Try the below recipes as well!

• Gevulde speculaas (almond paste filled cookies)
• Speculaasbrokken (cookie chunks)
• Pepernoten (little spiced cookies)