Gevulde Speculaas

• 500 grams of blanched almonds
• 500 grams sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/8 tsp lemon peel

• 8 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp anise seed
• 1 tsp ginger
• ¾ tsp cardamom

• 150 gram room temperature butter
• 150 gram brown sugar
• 280 gram all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 7 tbsp milk
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Speculaas kruiden
• 16 peeled almonds

1. First you need to make the Almond Paste. It's best to make the Almond Paste a week ahead of time, so it has a change to marinate. I made more then what I needed,  you can safe this Almond Paste in the refrigerator or freezer for later use. You have to peel the almonds and the easiest way to do that is by boiling some water and add the almonds. Once the almonds float to the top, they are ready for you to take them out of the water. Let them cool down and start peeling the almonds.
2. Put the peeled almonds in the food processor add the sugar, lemon peel and and an egg. Pulse and the almond paste will look like sand. Take the Almond Paste out of the food processor and make a ball out of it. Wrap in plastic foil, store in the refrigerator, if you are not going to use it all soon, store it in the freezer.
3. You only need half of this Almond Paste for this recipe.  Put some parchment paper on the counter and flatten 500 gram Almond Paste. You can either do this by your hand or a rolling pin. To me doing it by hand is easier. Shape the Almond Paste in the form of your baking dish. Mine is 8x8. Check if it's the right size, set aside.
4. To make the dough you need to combine the seasonings for the speculaas kruiden. Combine all ingredients for the speculaas kruiden and store in a small container, for this recipe you need 2 tbsp.
5. The prepared dough should be stored in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.  Cream the butter, add the sugar. Then add the flour, baking soda, milk, lemon juice and the 2 tbsp speculaas kruiden. Mix well. Make a ball out of it and put it in the refrigerator.
6. When you are ready to make the Gevulde Speculaas cut 2/3 of the dough ball. You need that for the bottom part and the sides of your baking dish. If the dough is too hard, stick it in the microwave for about 30 sec or until the dough is pliable. Roll the dough out, it should be about 4 mm or 1.6 " thick. Put the dough in the bottom of the baking dish and the sides. Now the dough may fall apart during the transfer but that's ok you can fix that with your fingers. Place the Almond paste on top of the dough, fold the sides over the Almond Paste. Now you need to roll out the 1/3 part of the dough, which will be the top part of the Gevulde Speculaas. Again it may fall apart, just fix it with your fingers. I also like to flatten the top with using a measuring cup. Since this Gevulde Speculaas is 8x8 I divided it in 16 bites by scoring it with a knife. Then brushed the egg-wash over the dough and add the whole almonds for each square. Put egg wash over the almonds and bake in a preheated oven (350F ) for 35 minutes. Let the Gevulde Speculaas cool on a cookie rack.

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Gevulde Speculaas

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

1 hour 35 mins

 

Author: Arrisje

Recipe type: Cookie

Cuisine: Dutch

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• For the almond paste:
• 500 grams of blanched almonds
• 500 grams sugar
• 1 egg
• ⅛ tsp lemon peel
• For the Speculaas Kruiden:
• 8 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp anise seed
• 1 tsp ginger
• ¾ tsp cardamom
• For the cookie dough:
• 150 gram room temperature butter
• 150 gram brown sugar
• 280 gram all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 7 tbsp milk
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Speculaas kruiden
• 16 peeled almonds

Instructions

1. First you need to make the Almond Paste. It’s best to make the Almond Paste a week ahead of time, so it has a change to marinate. I made more then what I needed, you can safe this Almond Paste in the refrigerator or freezer for later use. You have to peel the almonds and the easiest way to do that is by boiling some water and add the almonds. Once the almonds float to the top, they are ready for you to take them out of the water. Let them cool down and start peeling them.
2. Put the peeled almonds in the food processor add the sugar, lemon peel and and an egg. Pulse and the almond paste will look like sand. Take the Almond Paste out of the food processor and make a ball out of it. Wrap in plastic foil, store in the refrigerator, if you are not going to use it all soon, store it in the freezer.
3. You only need half of this Almond Paste for this recipe. Put some parchment paper on the counter and flatten 500 gram Almond Paste. You can either do this by your hand or a rolling pin. To me doing it by hand is easier. Shape the Almond Paste in the form of your baking dish. Mine is 8×8. Check if it’s the right size, set aside.
4. To make the dough you need to combine the seasonings for the speculaas kruiden. Combine all ingredients for the speculaas kruiden and store in a small container, for this recipe you only need 2 tbsp.
5. The prepared dough should be stored in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Cream the butter, add the sugar. Then add the flour, baking soda, milk, lemon juice and the 2 tbsp speculaas kruiden. Mix well. Make a ball out of it and put it in the refrigerator.
6. When you are ready to make the Gevulde Speculaas cut ⅔ of the dough ball. You need that for the bottom part and the sides of your baking dish. If the dough is too hard, stick it in the microwave for about 30 sec or until the dough is pliable. Roll the dough out, it should be about 4 mm or 1.6 ” thick. Put the dough in the bottom of the baking dish and the sides. Now the dough may fall apart during the transfer but that’s ok you can fix that with your fingers. Place the Almond paste on top of the dough, fold the sides over the Almond Paste. Now you need to roll out the ⅓ part of the dough, which will be the top part of the Gevulde Speculaas. Again it may fall apart, just fix it with your fingers. I also like to flatten the top with using a measuring cup. Since this Gevulde Speculaas is 8×8 I divided it in 16 bites by scoring it with a knife. Then brushed the egg-wash over the dough and added whole almonds for each square. Again put egg wash over the almonds and bake in a preheated oven (350F ) for 35 minutes. Let the Gevulde Speculaas cool on a cookie rack.

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