Speculaas — crisp Dutch spiced cookies with brown sugar

Weigh all 200 g type 450 wheat cake flour, 3 g baking powder, and 2 g salt. Add 4 g cinnamon and 1 g each of dried ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Whisk thoroughly in a bowl, breaking up any spice lumps. All spices are ground; do not add whole cloves or an unweighed ready-made spice mix.

In another bowl, mix 100 g soft whole butter with 100 g dark basterd sugar. Use a spatula or a mixer on low speed for about 1–2 minutes, just until evenly combined. Do not beat into a very fluffy cream. Crush larger sugar lumps so they do not remain in the thin cookies.

Pour all 25 g weighed milk into the butter and sugar and mix briefly. Add all the prepared flour and spices. Stir with a spatula, then knead briefly by hand until the crumbs form a uniform dough. Scrape out both bowls; do not add flour and do not add extra milk. Do not knead for a long time as you would bread dough.

Shape into a flat block, wrap tightly, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. The dough should become noticeably cold and firm so it rolls thinly with ease. After chilling, divide into two equal pieces. If very hard, leave on the counter for a few minutes, just until pliable enough to roll.

Line two baking sheets, about 30 × 40 cm, with parchment. Place the first half of the dough between two parchment sheets and roll into a rectangle about 18 × 24 cm and 4 mm thick. Press uneven edges inward to square them up rather than trimming them. Keep the other half covered in the refrigerator. Do not use flour for dusting.

Remove the top parchment. Use a thin knife to divide the rectangle into four rows and four columns, making sixteen pieces about 4.5 × 6 cm. Transfer with a flat spatula to the first baking sheet, leaving about 1.5 cm between them. Keep all the dough, pressing small crumbs onto the last pieces. No cookie cutter or cutting out shapes is needed.

Roll and cut the second half the same way to make sixteen more cookies. Space them apart on the second sheet. Use all the dough for thirty-two pieces in total. Refrigerate the shaped cookies for at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170°C, conventional top and bottom heat.

Bake the first sheet on the middle rack for about 14–18 minutes. The edges should darken slightly and the surface turn matte; take care that the bottoms do not begin to scorch. The cookies may still be slightly soft. Keep the second sheet in the refrigerator until then, and bake for another 14–18 minutes using the same oven setting.

Leave each baked batch on its sheet for about 5 minutes to firm up. Then lift onto a rack with a spatula and cool for about 20 more minutes, until completely cold. Only then judge the crispness. Keep all pieces and crumbs from both batches; do not trim edges and do not add decorations.

Serve two whole cookies per portion, approximately 24 g together. Seal cold speculaas in an airtight tin or container and store in a cool, dry place; they are best eaten within a week. Do not pack warm cookies, as trapped steam will take away their crispness. The spice flavors may mellow together overnight.