Speculaas biscuits

Richly spiced, crispy biscuits that traditionally come in shapes or are shaped in specially carved wooden moulds.  I normally shape the dough into a log and cut thin slices from it.  Great for the freezer style biscuits that you can bake in a hurry.

You can make up your own Speculaas spice mix for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• • 220 gr softened butter

  • 250 gr brown sugar (dark brown if you have it)

  • 2 tablespoons molasses

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 500 gr plain flour

  • 2 tablespoons Speculaas spice

  • 2 tablespoons milk

Method:

• 1. Cream the butter, brown sugar and molasses together

  2. add the vanilla and mix until blended

  3. sift the flour and spices into the butter mixture and fold the dry ingredients through

  4. add the milk and using your hand, bring the mixture together to form a ball of dough

  5. shape the dough into two logs that are about 5cm in diameter and place into a plastic bag

  6. refrigerate overnight or for at least couple of hours so that the logs becomes very firm

  7. when you are ready to bake, turn your oven on to a moderate heat and line a biscuit tray with baking paper

  8. cut thin slices (.5cm) from the dough log with a sharp knife and lay on your baking tray

  9. bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the biscuits are nicely browned

  10. cool on trays for about 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack

  11. dust with icing sugar and store in airtight container.

Tips:

If you are desperate, you could use the dough without refrigerating it first but the dough logs are so much easier to work with.

Note that the dough is naturally dark so it's a little difficult to work out when they are cooked.  The edges of the biscuits will be darker than the centre.