Skip to main content
Dessert

Spice Cookies

Speculaas are spice cookies made with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, flour, and optional almonds.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Spice Cookies

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Spice Cookies

Oven350°F
Time8 to 10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Beat margarine or butter with a mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds or by hand.

  2. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.

  3. Beat in egg and flour.

  4. Add chopped almonds if using.

Shape and bake

  1. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured board and cut into shapes (windmills and Sinterklaas/Santa shapes are traditional but we also cut them into the children's initials).

  2. Decorate with whole almonds if using.

  3. Place one inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.

  4. Bake in 350°F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

  5. Cool 1 minute, transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

716Calories
20 gProtein
20 gFat
113 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Cloves1 tsp ground (2g)7
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,514 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Nutmeg + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Margarine or butter
Creams with sugar to trap air and give the cookies a tender, short texture.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness, moisture and molasses flavour, and helps the cookies brown.
Egg
Binds the dough and adds structure and richness.
All-purpose flour
Provides the main structure that holds the cut shapes together.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the oven to give the cookies a light lift.

The step that matters

Rolling to 1/8 inch thickness. Dough rolled too thick will stay soft in the middle and may not crisp, while dough rolled evenly bakes at the same rate and holds its cut shapes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Cinnamon RollsCinnamon Rolls71 recipesClove CakeClove Cake53 recipesCinnamon CakeCinnamon Cake42 recipesAlmond Sponge CakeAlmond Sponge Cake26 recipes