Speculaas

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon ginger, ground
• 3/4 teaspoon cardamom, ground
• 1/4 mace, ground
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
• 1/4 teaspoon clove, ground
• 6 ounces butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 cup water
• confectioner's sugar (for surface)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• 2 whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, mace, pepper, and cloves in a large bowl.
• 3 cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
• 4 beat in half the flour mixture. beat in water, then remaining flour mixture.
• 5 shape into 3 disks. pat each to a 1-inch thickness, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• 6 dust surface and springerle mold (or rolling pin) lightly with confectioners' sugar. roll out dough to a 1/4- to 3/8-inch thickness (deeper molds will need thicker dough). cut a piece of dough about the size of the mold. press mold firmly into dough, flip over, and gently roll over dough with a rolling pin. flip over, and press onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. using a knife, trim excess dough. gently coax dough out of mold with fingertips and onto a baking sheet.
• 7 repeat, spacing cookies 1 inch apart, and placing same-size cookies on same sheet. freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
• 8 place 1 sheet of cookies in the oven, and immediately reduce temperature to 250. bake, 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are set and just beginning to turn light gold around edges, 55 to 65 minutes.
• 9 let cool on sheets on wire racks.
• 10 cookies will keep, covered, for up to 1 week.