I think windmill cookies is another name for speculaas. This cookie is particularly unusual because of the speculaaskruiden spice blend.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 8 hrs 35 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 2 dozen |
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix flour with spices, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and mix well.
- Stir in, by hand half, flour mixture. Add the remaining flour and almonds. Mix with a wooden spoon or knead with hands.
- Divide dough into four parts, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for several hours to overnight. (If you are using a mold, chill it as well.)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and grease two cookie sheets.
- Remove one quarter of dough from the refrigerator and flatten it with your hands. Oil your mold and lightly flour it. Using your fingers, press dough firmly into the mold. Trim any excess dough from the mold with a knife.
- Transfer cookies onto greased cookie sheets with a spatula, spacing about one inch apart.
- Refrigerate dough trimming to be rerolled later. Lightly flour but do not re-oil cookie mold.
- Repeat process with remaining dough. When cookie sheets are full, bake cookies for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Store in a covered tin.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 368 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 48 g |
| Cholesterol | 56 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 152 mg |
| Sugars | 23 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
My Dutch husband likes more spice so I found a recipe for the speculaas spice which includes (in addition to ground cloves, ground ginger and cinnamon) nutmeg, white pepper, and cardamom. I also turned this into ‘speculaasbrokken’ and put the almonds on top (see attached picture).
If you think this cookie is bland…try adding a bit more spice of something you like. I think the cloves are too much and switched out some of it for nutmeg instead. Adding a Tb. of molasses was another flavor booster. Would have been 5 stars without all the cloves. A drizzle of glaze is wonderful and don’t forget a cup of hot coffee to go along with them (if you like.)
These did not taste like speculaas at all to me, and I was born and raised into a dutch family, so I definitely have a lot of personal experience!! They tasted like a bland sugar cookie to me, with a hint of spice. They definitely need more zip and perhaps some molasses as well to intensify the flavour. Just throwing ideas out there. Not sure if I will bother trying to make these again, even with alterations, sorry. My kids ate one and didn’t ask for more, which is a pretty strong statement.
This recipe is great. I made them for the New Year’s Eve and my friends were delighted. They’re much better then the ones I used to buy in the shop. The only thing I changed is that I used 1 cup of grind almonds instead of 1/2 cup of sliced almonds. I’m very grateful for this recipe.
The cookies where great but the dough needed some almond extract to flovor it
This cookie was ok. It was a little bland. My husband’s family is Dutch and he said that this cookie was not much like the original windmill ones. The spices are off and the texture is too cakey. It does taste nice for a lite snack but not much like real speculass.
One of my co-workers requested these for her last day of work with us, but I had never heard of them. I wasn’t sure of what to expect but the cookies turned out delicious. They are just sweet enough and would be perfect with tea. I left the dough in the fridge for about 3 1/2 hours and it was so cold I couldn’t work with it. I would chill it for about 2 hours next time. I found the recipe to be very easy and very good. I would highly recommend it. Thanks Laura!
The “speculaasjes” are originally from the Netherlands. I was looking all over to find them in the stores. Now I can make them myself, thanks to your recipe. Thanks.
I made these cookies for my family, and they devoured them. I do not have a windmill mold, so I divided the dough in half, made rectangles out it and chilled it in saran wrap. Actually, in the freezer! Then I sliced it into 1/8’slices and baked them for 12 minutes. So crispy and crunchy, these went like wild fire. I found them to be extremely easy. I plan to make these a part of my Christmas cookies!!
Thanks for such a great recipe!
Thanks for such a great recipe!