Gevulde Speculaaskoeken

After last week’s “Gevulde Koeken” (Stuffed Cookies) which turned out buttery, sweet and indulgent, I had to try out the “Speculaas” version on this biscuit: the dough is spiced with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg which gives the dough a warm hug. They turned to be very similar to Gevulde Speculaas but then in a lighter biscuit form.

The Recipe

Before making the actual cookies, you need to make the amandelspijs a few days before. It needs to rest in the fridge to fully develop the taste. The recipe for amandelspijs is super simple: equal amounts of almond meal and sugar, egg and grated lemon peel. My go-to recipe reference is on the website of Laura’s Bakery.

For the actual Gevulde Speculaaskoeken recipe, I followed Rutger’s recipe on Rutger Bakt. He suggests using 50% plain flour and 50% Zeeuwse bloem (cake flour) to give the biscuit of the Gevulde Koeken a more crispy bite. I used Lighthouse biscuit, pastry & cake flour which you can buy at the local supermarket and reduced the caster sugar amount with about 10 grams to make it slightly less sweet.

There are many recipes out there to make the Speculaaskruiden or Koekkruiden (spice recipe) and I still had a jar of “Verstegen koek- en speculaaskruiden”. Rutger does have a recipe for Speculaaskruiden yourself if you don’t have a pre-mixed jar.

I could make 10 full-sized biscuits plus a chef’s treat out of the dough. I tried to stuff as much amandelspijs into the biscuit as I could: In the end I got in a heaped tablespoon per cookie without breaking the other dough too much.

Whilst baking the Gevulde Speculaaskoeken in the oven, the kitchen was filled with the smell of warm spices. They turned out deliciously perfect: crispy and warmly spiced on the outside, with soft amandelspijs on the inside. The Gevulde Speculaaskoeken are definitely more indulgent than the Gevulde koeken because of the spiced dough. The spices make you come back for another one. Just like eating Gevulde speculaas.