Speculoos (Belgian spice cookies)

I get excited about cookies on flights. Yes, I admit it. I can pack all the snacks I want at home for my flight, but the novelty of airline food intrigues me, even when it’s not good. But these airline cookies I’m about to talk about? These cookies are gangbusters.

I’m talking here about the Biscoff cookie. If you had it, you might just remember it, too, ’cause these cookies are no peanuts, no pretzels in difficult-to-open packs. They are these delicious, crispy, spicy, sweet Biscoff cookies, (aka speculoos or Belgian spice cookies). Friends and enemies, since this post is turning out to be confession time, let me say this: I am obsessed with these cookies.

Biscoff cookies are available on Delta flights, or, you can find them at Amazon.com or at Cost World Plus. OR, you could try your hand at making your own.

They dramatically increase my mood (read: blood sugar) when I’m on a flight that seems in danger of never ending. I can only pretend to sleep so long, and no, I will not watch your free episode of Two and a Half Men. The first time I ate them I was shocked at how tasty they were, and then sad that I had scarfed them down. Next time I got one, I was a little better in my savoring skills. And the third time? I saved the package because I had to look up these cookies, I had to dissect them, find how I could approximate the recipe for myself at home.

A clone army of the Biscoff Belgian spice cookie!

Yes, I want to dissect these cookies and reassemble them, in the manner of one Dr. Frankenstein, into a delicious, crisp spice cookie man. What’s it to you?

I've almost eaten the whole package by myself.

The secret is the correct blend of spices. Just cinnamon and they’re just cinnamon shortbread. But throw in a variety of ginger, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg? Well, you’re getting somewhere. The second secret? The baking soda and baking powder combination. These cookies have to be crisp but not crunchy, tender, but not soft. Baking ammonia might actually be an even better ingredient to have (in which case, use a 1/2 teaspoon of that instead of the 1/4 teaspoons of powder and soda), but the baking ammonia is difficult to find in grocery stores, and the smell it produces while baking might not be your cup of tea.

Baking time is also important, though it is more important that you not overbake them, since soft cookies are still at least edible.

You can't just eat one.

Belgian Spice Cookies (Speculoos), aka, a clone of a Biscoff cookie

Ingredients

• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp.  vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium-sized bowl mix together flour, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves), baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large separate bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer, low speed. Add the vanilla extract.
4. Gradually blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture until it is well combined.
5. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch-thickness. From here, you can either bake it as a large sheet of cookie to cut later, or, you can use cookie cutters to make cookie shapes.
6. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.
7. If you choose to bake it as a large sheet, bake for 20-25 minutes. Cut out cookies to shape as desired.
8. If you choose to bake it as shapes, place dough shapes onto parchment paper and bake for 12-15 minutes.
9. Cook on cooling rack before serving. These are best once they have cooled.

Tags: allspice, biscoff, cinnamon, cloves, cookies, desserts, ginger, imitation recipe, spice