If you’ve been on the food side of TikTok lately, you’ve probably seen the word ‘speculoos’. It’s being used in pretty much any sweet recipe you can think of – from biscuits and cakes, to overnight oats and tiramisu.
But what actually is speculoos? And how can you get this unique flavour into your recipes?
Read on to find out:
- What is speculoos?
- Are speculoos and biscoff the same?
- How do you make speculoos biscuits?
- What other recipes can you use speculoos in?
What is speculoos?
Speculoos flavour is a blend of warming, sweet spices usually found in biscuits.Â
The speculoos flavour comes mixing dark brown sugar with various spices, including:
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Cardamom
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- White pepper
Speculoos – also called biscoff – is similar to gingerbread and ‘pumpkin spice’ flavour. It also goes well with caramel to make sweet recipes that need a hit of warming spices.Â
Image: Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash
Where does speculoos come from?
Speculoos has origins in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, where it is a tradition at Christmas time. Speculoos (or speculaas) typically refers to the shortbread biscuits made with that specific blend of spices.
Traditional speculoos biscuits are often in the shape of windmills, nativity characters, or animals. Most people today make them in a plain rectangle shape.
Are speculoos and biscoff the same?
Yes! Biscoff is just a branded commercial name for speculoos flavour. However, some biscoff flavour biscuits can be more chewy or cookie-like than the traditional, crispy speculoos biscuit.
How do you make speculoos biscuits?
The recipe for speculoos biscuits is pretty similar to any classic biscuit recipe, just with different spices. You won’t need any eggs or egg substitutes because you’re aiming for more of a thin crispy biscuit than a risen chewy cookie.Â
Just add the spices in with your flour and sugar and make the biscuits as normal.
