Afternoon Snack :: Speculaas [Club:BAKED]
This time around the BAKED Â 
choice was some cookies, speculaas to be exact and it was co-hosted with Baked Sunday Mornings, another  group of bakers baking through BAKED Explorations. I wasn’t sure if I was going to bake along this time because I wasn’t too excited about these cookies, but I figured… why not, especially since I had all of the ingredients on hand (except for the orange zest which I ended up leaving out). I do agree that these made the perfect snack to enjoy with a cup of tea. My husband and I are big tea drinkers and not only was this a great snack while I finished re-reading the Hunger Games (can’t wait for the movie!), we were able to enjoy a few of these with our afternoon cup of NYC Breakfast yesterday. This recipe was super 
easy. I didn’t have a pastry cutter (should probably get one of those one day), so I just used a large fork to get all of that  butter into my dry mix. I guess this was the hardest part. I didn’t seem to matter too much. Once I got it into a ball and wrapped I put in the fridge for a little over 60 minutes. After that it was time to roll, literally!  I’m not sure that these were a 1/4 in. thick as suggested. I think they may have been a little on the thin
side since I got more cookies than what the recipe said I would. I’ve thought about buying those cookie slats because I feel like I never get the dough the right thickness. I guess if I start making more cookies I might invest in those. I ended up just using my round cookie cutter. I think the cookies were a pretty good size. After they were on the cookie sheet I sprinkled each one with some William-Sonoma White Sanding Sugar . We enjoyed some of these a few minutes after 
taking these out of the oven. I think I actually liked them the best when they were a little warm. I have always been more of a soft, rather than hard, cookie fan. Â If you are intrigued by these speculaas and want to make them yourself, you can find the recipe here. Or, if you just want to check out the other baker’s links go to Club: BAKED!
Love your little pictures. I agree, I like my cookies soft, but these are actually really good as a crispy cookie. I’ll have to give a batch to the ones that love crispy cookies.
These are just the best tea cookie and even though I said I would have preferred them at Christmas I still enjoyed them and like you I prefer them more on the soft side, but my husband likes them crispy. Your cookies look like the perfect size and I bet they tasted more like the Biscoff cookies without the orange zest.
Your cookies look great. My hubby is happy with these…always prefers crispy cookies…I think he likes the crunch…he’s also a chips guy. But most people who share my baking enjoy a softer, chewy cookie. Nice photos.
Ahh- your cookies came out great!! What nice pictures. I agree- they go great with tea and that little plate and cup are very welcoming to the eyes and stomach.
Oh man, wish I would have tried a couple of these out of the oven. Sounds like a good idea! I halved the recipe and felt like I still got quite a few cookies, so maybe we were both in the too thin boat :)
I love tea and cookies. I was looking forward to this cookie, but unfortunately I didn’t care for the flavor. Your cookies look great Lorraine!
P.S. Just finished the Hunger Games books last week and loved them. I hope the movies are as good as the books.
I loved these with tea, too – they totally reminded me of Constant Comment from Bigelow. I under-baked these a little so they would be a little softer. I will definitely make these again.
Your cookies look perfect! I am also more of a soft cookie fan so these weren’t amazing for me, but they sure were great with tea :) Beautiful photos!
I love you as a blogger friend…you are the best, you always comment on mine, like we having a cor3sneationRv0;I’m the happiest blogger friend you have that you found me…xx