German Spekulatius cookies

Like I mentioned in my recent post, I fell head over heals for those spiced and crispy German cookies that are sold around Christmas time. I’ve made them a few times and even served them with a parfait in one of the restaurants I’ve worked with. This time I’ve decided to do something different. I kept the spices and the almonds but changed the recipe a little. I browned the butter first, and then let it chill in the refrigerator until it was firm again. I used chopped almonds instead of sliced almonds. But I guess the big difference is that I turned them into sandwich cookies. I cut them all into squares using a square cookie cutter. I cut a hole in the center of half of them. After baking them, I spread a good quality raspberry jam over the flat square cookies and topped them with the cookies that had the hole in the middle. These cookies are so delicious and pretty. They won’t last long in the cookie jar…

These cookies are very crispy after being baked and cooled, but once you spread them with the jam and store them in a cookie jar they become super soft and take on a whole different character.

Here’s the recipe:

2 sticks butter
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup toasted almonds, chopped
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
good quality raspberry jam

Cook the butter in a medium pan over a medium heat until butter is light brown. Transfer to a heat proof measuring glass. Chill in the refrigerator until butter is solid.

Mix the sugar and the orange and lemon zest, rubbing it with the palms of your hands until sugar is fragrant.

Once butter is solid, remove from refrigerator and transfer to a bowl of a stand mixture. Add sugar and zests mixture, brown sugar, spices, salt, vanilla and almonds. Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, then scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.

Mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda and then add to the bow. Beat just until well combined.

Shape dough into a disc and wrap well with plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350º F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll the dough on a well floured counter to a little less than a quarter inch thick sheet.

Using a 2 1/2 inch diameter cookie cutter, cut out as many circles (or squares, depending on the cookies cutter you are using) and transfer them to the prepared baking sheet. Make sure to keep some space between each cookie. Wrap scarps in plastic. Using a smaller cookie cutter (about 1 inch diameter), cut out circle (or squares, depending on the cookies cutter you are using) from the middle of half of the cookies. You should have an even amount of flat cookies and cookies with holes in the middle.

Re-roll scraps and cut out more cookies in the same manner.

Bake cookies until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Rotate pan during baking for even browning. Once ready, transfer to a cooling rack and let stand at room temperature until completely cooled.

Spread the flat part of cookies without the holes with the raspberry jam and cover each with the cookie with the hole in the middle.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and store in an airtight container. You could also freeze the cookies in a zip lock bag.

Peace and love and toasted almonds.

Dadi