Cookies To Puddings: 5 Easy Speculaas Dessert Ideas For This Festive Season

The Christmas or festive season would be incomplete without the desserts that make the celebration special. Desserts hold a great place in every culture around the world because they represent a celebration, a special occasion, or a good time. Therefore, during any festival, you need to get your desserts right. Speculaas, which is an iconic and traditional cookie on its own, can be used to make several other desserts and elevate them even further with a lovely blend. They are warm, flavorful, chewy, and carry nostalgia with them. You can never go wrong with these cookies

This classic Dutch cookie can be used to make several desserts, from cake to tiramisu. So, let's get started with 5 dessert ideas that you can make using speculaas this festive season

What Are Speculaas Cookies?

The Dutch speculaas cookies or speculaas, as the cookie is commonly known, are a traditional Dutch cookie. Speculaas are a traditional spiced cookie that was created for the first time in the Netherlands. But apart from the Netherlands, the cookies are also very popular and widely consumed in Belgium.

The speculaas are highly popular during the Christmas season and also during the Sinterklaas season, which is marked on the 5th of December. Sinterklaas is a traditional Dutch holiday but apart from that, it also serves as a common cookie on the Christmas platter in the Netherlands and Belgium. But that doesn't mean you can't find these cookies for the rest of the year. Since these cookies are very loved and popular, they are available for all 12 months of the year.

Their signature flavor comes from the inclusion of various spices depending on the recipe, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and white pepper. It is authentically a warm and flavorful cookie with a lovely aroma.

Speculaas Tiramisu Pudding

This dessert brings together two popular treats in one beautiful and irresistible blend. The Speculaas tiramisu pudding is to die for. The crunchy speculaas bits in the pudding simply feel heavenly in this creamy dish. The best part? It is very easy to make and you don't need to be an expert to nail this dessert.

The dessert is light, airy, and quick, perfect for a situation when you need something delicious, visually appealing, and isn't time-consuming to prepare. The fluffy cream with crushed cookies inside of it will make you keep coming back to this dessert. Perfect for the holiday and festive season.

Speculaas Cake

This would become your favorite dessert if you are a fan of speculaas cookies or biscuits. In this beautiful variation, the iconic speculaas cookies transform into a delicious and creamy cake that you can enjoy during holidays and festivals. It captures the essence of the festive season perfectly and it doesn't require any elaborate preparation either. So, you get a brilliant dessert without sweating much.

The cake is creamy, soft, and loaded with flavors, and the best part? Topped with crushed speculaas that provide a great contrast in texture to the fluffy cake.

Speculaas Cheesecake Bars

Another great twist to your traditional cheesecake or cheesecake bars. The flavors in this combination complement each other perfectly and it is a dessert that you will surely keep making on a regular basis, whether it's the holiday or festive season or not. They are portable, mess-free, and packed with delicious flavor. What's more to ask? In these bars, make the crust for the cheesecake bars using speculaas cookie crumbs. It provides a great enhanced flavor and crunch to the cheesecake bars.

Speculaas Cookie Spread/Butter

This is not exactly a dessert on its own, but you can use this spread to top or fill many other desserts, like cakes, pancakes, crepes, or even other cookies. Since it is a spread, you will need any elaborate preparation or process to get this spread right. The spread is the perfect blend of comfort, sweet, and spicy flavors.

Its texture and flavor can be compared to smooth peanut butter but with some cinnamon flavor. So, give this spread a try. You will not regret this.

Speculaas Lemon Tart

This is one of the easiest desserts that you can prepare, and it requires only a handful of ingredients, such as speculaas cookies, condensed milk, butter, lemon zest, and eggs. In this dessert, the crust of the tart is made of a speculaas cookie crust that provides a lovely warm, sweet, and slightly spicy flavor to the lemon tart. The flavors complement each other perfectly.

The tart overall is creamy, delicious, and refreshing. Enjoy this dessert in the morning for the best experience.