Christmas Calendar 2018 - Speculoos cookies

In the December 2018 issue of Country Living I found this recipe on speculoos cookies, it was actually a cookie sandwich with a dark chocolate ganache. However, after my recent difficulties in getting the right texture in these eggnog truffles, I decided only to bake the cookies and not to try my hands on the ganache creme.

I made the following modifications. Replacement of the light muscovado sugar with the dark version of muscovado sugar, as I could not locate the light version in my local supermarket. I actually think, that the use of the dark version give a more spicy flavour.
As I did not have any mixed spice, I decided to use a mixture of spices for the German lebkuchen.

If you are looking for other suggestions for spicy cookies, when take a a look at these bastognes.

Speculoos cookies: - 24 cookies

• 125 g butter - soft
• 125 g dark muscovado sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 250 g (cake) wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground German Christmas cake spice mixture or ground mixed spice
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt

1. Whip the butter and muscovado sugar together until pale and fluffy using an electrical hand mixer.
2. Add in the milk, and beat again.
3. In a separate mixing bowl weight in the flour, baking powder and soda and all the spices. Stir everything together.
4. Add the flour and spices mixture little by little into the butter-sugar mixture.
5. After the final addition the cookie dough looks like bread crumble, but keep whipping for another 2 minutes, until the dough texture changes and stick more together.
6. Divide the dough into 2 portions, which are shape in a discs shape, which is covered in cling film. 
7. Let the cookie dough rest cold for minimum 1 hours, night over or up to 2 days.
8. Take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator. Let it rest for ½ hour.
9. Heat up the fan oven to 170'C.
10. Roll the cookie dough into a thickness of approx. 5 mm.
11. Use a biscuit cutter of approx 6 cm to stamp our the cookies.
12. Re-roll the cookie dough until, all the dough is used. If the dough becomes too warm, when let the dough rest cold for 30 minutes.
13. Place the cookies on baking tray covered with baking parchment.
14. You can stamp a pattern into the surface of the cookie using a glass with a pattern in the bottom.
15. Bake the cookies at 15-18 minutes at 170'C (fan oven), until they are they are firm.
16. Cool down the cookies, before they are stored in airtight containers.