Speculoos-Style Christmas Biscuits
- Sweet
- Oven
Thin, crisp oven-baked biscuits with cinnamon and nutmeg, the kind that fill a kitchen with warm spice at Christmas. They bake up snappy and caramel-brown, perfect with a cup of tea.
- Total
- 80 min
- Prep 25 · Cook 25 · Rest 30
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Kneading · Whisking
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 175°C. Line the baking tray with parchment paper.
~10 min
-
Melt the butter gently in a heatproof bowl set in the warm oven for a few minutes, then let it cool slightly so it is warm but not hot.
~5 min
Warm melted butter blends smoothly into the egg mixture, while hot butter could start to cook the egg.
-
Whisk the egg with the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a mixing bowl until smooth, then stir in the melted butter.
~4 min
Whisking the sugar and spices into the egg first dissolves them evenly, so the spice is distributed through the dough rather than clumping.
Whisking Whisk briskly until the sugar and spices are fully dissolved and the mixture is smooth, with no grainy feel left at the bottom of the bowl.
-
Add the flour and mix to a firm dough. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes so the dough firms and rolls cleanly.
~30 min
Chilling firms the butter and relaxes the gluten, so the dough rolls thin without sticking or springing back.
Kneading Mix just until the flour is absorbed and the dough comes together; overworking develops gluten and makes the biscuits tough rather than snappy.
-
Roll the dough out to 3 mm thick between two sheets of parchment paper. Cut into 6 cm rounds or rectangles and place them on the lined baking tray, leaving 2 cm between each.
~12 min
Rolling between parchment keeps the dough from sticking and gives an even 3 mm thickness, so every biscuit bakes at the same rate.
The dough is ready to roll when it feels cool and firm; if it softens while you cut shapes, return it to the fridge for a few minutes rather than adding more flour.
-
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are deep golden brown and the centres feel firm. They crisp as they cool.
~14 min
Biscuits finish drying and hardening as they cool, so pulling them out when the edges are browned keeps them crisp rather than burnt.
Bake until the edges are visibly browned, not just pale gold: the colour is what gives these biscuits their snap once cool.
-
Cool the biscuits on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
~5 min
A few minutes on the hot tray lets them set, and the wire rack lets air circulate underneath so they stay crisp instead of steaming soft.
