Speculoos (Biscoff cookies)

Well. That was crazy. Thanksgiving happened and then the end of the semester, with all its papering and examining and such, came in quick succession. I spent weeks sitting in front of my computer. I forgot what I looked like with makeup on. I ran out of lazy clothes. I made mustache-shaped sugar cookie pops. I drank too much coffee and ate Biscoff spread from a jar. It was highly attractive. Mildly insane. Hopefully successful. But mostly, I'm glad it's over. Back to real things. Cookie things. We like these things.

Speculoos (or Biscoff cookies) are delightfully crisp, slightly spiced, and super buttery. You can enjoy them in both cookie and spread form (the aforementioned addictive spread is also known as cookie butteromggg). They are simple and straightforward delicious. Awesome on their own or sandwiching peanut butter or vanilla butter cream or, dare I say, cookie butter!? That'd be a cookie on cookie on cookie situation. My kind of situation. And plus, they'd be totes adorbs in a festive bag, tied up with a little bow, and tucked in a stocking.

Speculoos

adapted from Cupcake Project

250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
226 g (1 cup) butter, room temperature
110 g (1/2 cup) light brown sugar
50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1/2 vanilla bean scraped)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together flour, ground spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until thoroughly mixed. Beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture slowly, mixing just until a dough comes together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm it up a bit. (Don't refrigerate the dough for too long, or it will be difficult to work with. If you do refrigerate it for longer, simply let it sit out on the counter awhile or knead just barely on a floured surface to soften.)

Roll out dough until about 1/4 inch thick. (I found it easier to halve the dough and roll each out separately.) Using your cookie cutter of choice (I used a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter), cut out shapes and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate cut dough for 15 minutes or until firm. Bake for 12 minutes, until just golden around the edges. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.