Speculaas Spice Mix

We spent a little more than three weeks in the Netherlands visiting Niels' family this summer. We've only been back a few weeks so I still have Dutch on the brain. (Look for posts on my Dutchified granola and one of my husband's favorite comfort foods soon!) Since we only get back to the Netherlands every other year, we do our best to stock up on our favorite food items while we are there.

This past year, we hosted an exchange student from the Netherlands. Marissa introduced us to all the Dutch goodies that have come out in the ten years since Niels lived there. Our son is especially fond of schudde buikjes, which are little speculaas cookies. Think Cookie Crisp cereal in gingerbread flavor.

Speculaas is a very popular spice in the Netherlands and used in a lot of sweets and treats, especially around the holidays. My favorite is gevulde speculaas (gingerbread bars stuffed with a layer of almond paste). You may have heard of speculoos, which is the Belgian word for speculaas. Belgians love their gingerbread, too!

Before our trip, I used up the last of my speculaas spice so I did some experimenting and made up my own spice mix, which I'm going to share with you today.  

Ingredients:

• 8 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cloves, ground
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon ginger, ground
• 1 teaspoon cardamom, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice, ground
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander, ground
• 1/4 anise seed, ground

Instructions:

1. Gather your spices. All the spices above are staples in my spice drawer, but may not be in yours.

2. If you have whole spices of any of the above, you can grind them in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. You don't need to buy a separate jar of ground spice.

3. Add the ground spices in a bowl.

4. Mix until well blended.

5. Store in an airtight glass jar. The amount I make lasts about 3 months. You may want to half it if you aren't sure you'll use it as often. Or you can keep it in the freezer to make it last longer.

I've made a printable version of this recipe for you to download, if you'd like:



 Now that you have this wonderful spice, what shall you make? Here are a few recipes to get started.

• Gevulde speculaas 
• Speculaas cookies (In this recipe, substitute 2 teaspoons speculaas spice mix for the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves).
• Speculaas cupcakes
• Kruidnootjes
• Coming soon: my Dutchifed granola 

Linked to:

* 36th Avenue * Crystal & Co.  * DIY Dreamer * Feeding Big * Fluster Buster * House of Hepworths * A Little Clarification * It's Overflowing * Life After Laundry * NY Melrose Family *  New Nostalgia * That's What Che Said * Tumbleweed Contessa * Will Cook for Smiles * Yellow Bliss Road