Honey & Ginger Windmill Cookies - Speculaas Cookies of Holland

Isn’t it great to receive an unexpected gift?!  I think it’s amazing!

My dear friend from “The View from Great Island” has sent me a beautiful Windmill Cookie mold made by HOBI Cookie Molds. It is hand carved from cherry wood and came with a booklet full of recipes, one of which I would love to share with you. Every Christmas I bake cookies from all over the world - it is my family tradition to try different sweets baked with old recipes. Today we have cookies from Holland. The individual windmill cookies are called speculaasjes. The Dutch word "speculaas" comes from speculum (mirror). The cookies are associated with the Dutch feast of Sinterklaas and are a favorite German and Dutch cookie at Christmas. They are honey sweet, full of spices, crispy and deliciously eye pleasing. You can send them as a gift to your loved ones and if they would like to bake the same by themselves, you may include the mold as well. I was so happy to receive a gift like that. Thank you, Sue Moran!



Honey-Ginger Windmill Cookies - Speculaas Cookies of Holland

Note: Dust the mold cavity with flour every time you press the cookie mold into a chilled dough.

Makes: 8  (3 1/2 - 5 1/2 inch) cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup (120ml) honey, I used dark buckwheat honey
• 1 Tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup (110g) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• about 4 1/2 cups (630g) all-purpose flour (I used a little less, about 4 1/4 cup)

Directions:

In a large bowl whisk an egg, until fully mixed. Stir in the honey, milk and almond extract and mix well. Slowly pour the melted butter, mix until all combined. Add the flour, half of the cup at the time, until the mixture is solid enough to knead. Knead the dough for couple of minutes. If you need add more flour. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, until firm but still flexible.

Originally, the cookies are thin and crisp, my cookies are thick and crisp. So, roll out the dough as thin as you like and cut out the cookies or use a cookie mold to make them very ornamental. Preheat the oven to 350F. Refrigerate the baking sheet with cookies while you preheat the oven. Bake cookies for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are slightly browned at the edges. Glaze them when they are warm. But is is completely optional.-))

For more tips about the cookies and molds, please visit here.