Dutch spicy nuts
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Cook time: 
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Makes: a lot
 
Ingredients
  • 500 gr white plain flour
  • 16 gr baking powder
  • 250 gr brown sugar
  • 5 gr salt
  • 20 gr Dutch spice mix
  • 350 gr cold butter
  • 30 ml cold milk
Dutch Spice mix
  • Dutch spices mixture
  • 30 gr cinnamon (15 teaspoons)
  • 4 gr white pepper (2 teaspoons)
  • 4 gr ground cloves (2 teaspoons)
  • 4 gr nutmeg (2 teaspoons)
  • 2 gr ground coriander (1 teaspoons)
  • 2 gr ginger powder (1 teaspoons)
  • 1 gr ground cardamom (1/2 teaspoon)
Instructions
  1. Mix the white plain flour, baking powder, brown sugar, salt and Dutch spice mix in a large bowl.
  2. Dice the cold butter and rub into the flour until the mixture ressembles coarse bread crumbs.
  3. Add the milk and knead the dough until smooth without overworking it.
  4. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate to mature overnight.
  5. The next day, roll the dough out to a rectangle about as thick as a pound coin and cut out the desired shape.
  6. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a tray with baking paper.
  7. Place the speculaas on the baking tray and bake for 15 min or until golden and cooked.
  8. Let them cool on the tray. The speculaas will harden upon cooling.
Stuff to know
The finished speculaas are to be kept in an airtight container.
Using cold butter and milk prevents the dough from becoming too soft to work with. Kneading it too long would also make it too soft to handle.
Speculaas is a typical Dutch winter speciality.
Recipe by Jeroen Valkenier Recipes at https://jpvalkenier.com/dutch-speculaas/