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Homemade Biscoff (Speculoos) Cookies – Low Carb and Gluten-Free

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I had no idea, when I first started food blogging, that food was so much like fashion.  Things fall in and out of fashion so quickly, and you can see this very thing happening in the food world as well.  Things catch on like wildfire, someone will create a recipe with a new, trendy ingredient and it takes off, and next thing you know, you see it everywhere.  In everything, on everything, under everything, swirled in everything.  If you haven’t yet made anything with the new, trendy ingredient, you start to feel like you are out in public wearing jelly shoes and acid wash jeans.  Wait, scratch that.  Those are trendy again, aren’t they?

The problem for me is that sometimes the new, trendy ingredient is something I can’t actually eat.  Take, for example, Biscoff cookies and the now wildy popular Biscoff Spread.  I had heard of Biscoff cookies quite some time ago, they are famously given out on Delta flights.  Or at least, they used to be before airlines started cutting all extraneous expenses.  Maybe they are still handed out in business class, but I took a Delta flight home for California a few weeks ago and I saw nary a Biscoff crumb.  Oh well, probably better not to even be tempted to try them.  But now the hot ticket item is the Biscoff Spread, which as much as I can figure out, appears to be a peanut butter-like spread made from grinding up Biscoff cookies (and probably adding some more sugar and oil).  I don’t know who thought of such a thing, or even WHY they thought of it, but it’s a mega-hit and foodbloggers are going to town with the stuff.  Clearly I could never be one of those people who predicts trends in food or fashion ahead of the game!

The tipping point for me came when I saw that Trader Joe’s was now carrying a Biscoff-like spread (Speculoos Cookie Butter).  And not only that, but they had thought to fill a chocolate bar with the stuff.  Okay, now that’s just mean!  Tempting a poor diabetic girl with chocolate and ground up cookies.  Well, you know what I had to do, right?  I had to make my own damn speculoos cookies.  So that if I felt like it, I could make my own damn Speculoos Cookie Butter and my own damn candy bars filled with it!

The Results:  Confession.  I liked these Biscoff/Speculoos cookies so much that I never got around to grinding it up.  My kids loved them too, so they really didn’t last long enough for me to grind up into a spread, let alone make anything with that spread.  These had a lovely flavour.  It’s hard to get the crisp, biscuity texture of cookies like this when baking low carb and gluten free, so I did experiment with how long I left them in the oven.  For one batch, I turned off the oven afterwards and let them sit for a while.  They turned out crisper, but were quite brown (tasted great!), whereas the other ones had a nicer colour but weren’t as crisp.

Either way, they are a great cookie and I will definitely make them again.  We all loved them spread with a little peanut butter in the morning.  Now here’s an idea…if I ever get around to grinding them up into a spread, I will spread it on some of the cookies themselves.  Double your Speculoos fun!

Lighter and less crisp or darker and more crisp

Print
Biscoff (Speculoos) Cookies – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Chill Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 40 mins
 

Speculoos is a spiced shortcrust biscuit traditionally baked on or just before St Nicholas' day in the Netherlands, Belgium, and around Christmas in Germany. These sweet little low carb cookies are delicious year round!

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Dessert
Servings: 32 small (1 to 2-inch) cookies.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup Swerve Sweetener or other erythritol
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar substitute (I used Ideal)
  • 1 large egg
  • 16 drops stevia extract
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, spices and salt.

  2. In a large bowl, beat butter, Swerve and brown sugar substitute until creamy. Beat in the egg, then beat in almond flour mixture until dough comes together.

  3. Turn out dough onto a large piece of parchment paper. Pat into a rough circle and then top with another piece of parchment. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Place on a cookie sheet and chill in refrigerator for at least an hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 325F and line another baking sheet with parchment. Using whatever shape cookie cutter your heart desires, cut out cookies and lift carefully with a small, offset spatula or knife. Place cookies at least 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Reroll your dough and cut out more cookies (if your dough gets too soft to work with, you can put it in the freezer for a bit to harden up).
  5. Bake cookies 12 to 15 minutes, or until they are just starting to brown. For a crisper cookie, turn off oven, prop door open with a wooden spoon and let sit inside until cool.
Recipe Notes

Yield will depend somewhat on what brown sugar substitute you use. Ideal does have some carbs.

Each cookie has 1.9 g of carbs and .7 g of fiber.

Total NET CARBS = 1.2 g.

Nutrition Facts
Biscoff (Speculoos) Cookies – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Amount Per Serving (1 cookie)
Calories 7.6
% Daily Value*
Carbohydrates 1.9g1%
Fiber 0.7g3%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Comments

  6. These with homemade, low carb Nutella….that would be awesome!

    And P.S. I JUST read about that Trader Joe’s spread yesterday. Not something I would eat, but ironic to say the least that you’re posting about it today.

    Reply

  9. I am so happy you were able to find an alternative to biscoff. That’s fab. These cookies look incredible. And healthy which is a huge bonus.

    Reply

  11. I saw the spread at Trader Joe’s but not the candy bar. I must find one of those to try out. I love the Biscoff cookies. I fly for work and always try to jump on a Delta flight purely for the cookies. I hoard them and hide them from my husband. And that is my dirty confession.

    Reply

  13. We flew coach on Delta last November and they had the cookies!! I have to admit to being a bit behind the times, and I knew that I loved them, but I didn’t know about the biscoff craze. Since then I’ve been reading over and over about biscoff “stuff”, and I think I really need to step in and try it myself. Loving your version as well!

    Reply

  14. I am so excited about this post!!! I am a Delta flight attendant with a gluten allergy…I serve biscoff cookies hand over fist but I’ve never had one…sometimes just the smell of them when people are eating them makes me want to cry I want one so bad! I will definitely be making these! Fun tip: take the biscoff, squirt a bit of fresh lime juice over the cookie and let it soak in then top with a schmear of cream cheese…I am told it tastes just like key lime pie!
    Were you on a short flight when there were no cookies? If it’s a short flight before 11am we serve a one snack option of cookies, if it’s after 11am the snack option switches to peanuts. Could be why they weren’t offered…but you can always ask, if they have them on board they should be able to get you some!

    Reply

    • Oooh, I hope you like these then. Feel free to make them with sugar instead of my low carb sweeteners. I haven’t ever had a Biscoff cookie so I can’t be positive they taste exactly the same, but the idea is right. I took a regular speculoos cookie recipe (from Dorie Greenspan, I think) and modified it to be gluten free and low carb so the spices were the same. Not to worry about not getting the cookies on my flight…it would have been hard to resist temptation anyway!

      Reply

  15. What sweetener did you use—sometimes when I bake with swerve or erythritol, i get that cooling sensation but have only noticed this with cookies. What did you use and did it have that “cooling” sensation? Thanks

    Reply

    • I used Swerve. It’s the only erythritol product that doesn’t appear to have the cooling sensation, at least for me. I also used some stevia, I find this combination reduces that effect.

      Reply

  16. Also, I forgot to ask on my last post, but do you have an actual written recipe to make the speculoos spread? I absolutely love that stuff but had to throw out my last jar I bought once I went gluten free/low carb. Thanks!

    Reply

    • I don’t have one, because I ate all the cookies as they were. I can’t imagine it’s hard to make, though. I’d put them into your food processor, add 2 tbsp or so powdered erythritol, grind it all up, and then add some oil 1 tbsp at a time until you get the right consistency. Done!

      Reply

      • what kind of oil would you recommend? Is that really all the spread is? I thought it would have included more ingredients…..

        Reply

        • Well, the commercial version contains a few more (unnecessary and not that good for you) ingredients. http://www.biscoff.com/biscoff-spread/
          But all you are really going to need is the homemade low carb cookies, some additional sweetener, maybe a touch more cinnamon, and oil to smooth it out. As for the oil, I was thinking about that. I think you want something that isn’t strongly flavored on it’s own, so the Biscoff flavor shines through. I’d probably go with grapeseed oil. At first I was thinking nut oils, but they tend to be pretty strongly flavored.

          Reply

          • Hmmmm….I’ve never tried grapeseed oil. I’ll get some soon and maybe make a smaller batch of the cookies and try making the spread……….I’ll get back to you after I’ve tried it and let you know 🙂

  17. Can a molasses be used to replace brown sugar substitute, or will that mess with the texture? Any idea how much molasses would come close to 1/4 cup? Add more Swerve to sub? I’ve used a teaspoon in other LC recipes & it has relatively few carbs spread out in many servings. Thanks!

    Reply

  18. This post made me laugh…speculoos (or speculaas as it is called in Dutch) is a staple food here and the speculoos spread has been around for decades…always funny how in the US foreign foods seem to make a sudden appearance as ‘new’ when they have been around for ages!

    Too bad I can’t get the brown sugar replacement. I did adapt one of your choc chip cookie recipes to make speculaas but it does miss the brown sugar…any ideas for replacements?

    Reply

    • Try adding a few teaspoons or a tbsp of molasses with more sweetener to get the brown sugar affect. And yes, Speculoos are all sorts of new on this side of the Atlantic 😉

      Reply

      • Molasses? As in sugar syrup? That is the only kind I can get here that is gluten free…that would not really be low-carb here and is actually on the ‘red’ list of foods…

        Reply

        • Feel free to skip it but please understand how very little molasses is in the recipe. It simply gives it a brown sugar taste and appearance, and only adds about .5 g of carbs per serving.

          Reply

    • Try * dieetwebshop.nl * for brown sugar replacement.

      BTW Caroline, they’re suppósed to be dark in colour! … at least the Dutch ones are.

      Reply

  19. Have I told you. Lately that I love you?!?

    We are celiac spectrum, and these are one of those things that I have, and will make myself sick with.

    I can resist buying the big package of them, or the butter, but “1 little packet won’t hurt. Too bad. It’ll be worth it.” When I fly.

    Making these this week.

    Reply

  20. Love the texture and the flavour of this cookie. It’s awesome!!
    I have a question though in regards to the nice looking heart shape in your picture.
    I’ve tried three batches now and the first cookie I cut out and put on the tray is fine,
    but any after it’s already to soft.
    Is that in your case also? Thanks!
    Linda

    Reply

    • No, that didn’t really happen to me. Perhaps you could put them back in the freezer after they are cut?

      Reply

  21. I’ve never heard of Biscoff cookies before in the UK, but I have had speculoos in Belgium where they come from and they are quite dark, like the darker one in your final picture. I cannot imagine it as a spread – probably a step too far for me.

    Reply

  22. Finally made these and they are fantastic! Since I live in Florida and it is hard to keep the dough chilled, I cut out the first batch and rolled the second half of the dough into balls, which I then covered with a sheet of parchment paper and smashed with the bottom of a glass. The smashed ones are actually thinner and prettier than the others; they have a sort of scalloped look around the edges. In any case, these will definitely go into the regular cookie-baking rotation around here! Thanks, Carolyn!

    Reply

    • Sunflower seed flour, but you need to add a bit of acidity so they don’t turn green (it’s a reaction between the sunflower seeds and the baking powder). Try adding a tbsp of lemon juice.

      Reply

  24. Hi Carolyn,

    Have you ever tried subbing lard in for the butter to make a crisper cookie? Before I went low carb, I used that with wheat based recipes and typically had great results.

    I made these today and they were delicious but I would have liked them crisper as well.

    Sarah

    Reply

  25. I can’t wait to make these i love the spices used. Question do you think i could form it into a log and chill and slice off the dough rounds and bake them that way? I’m not one to use cookie cutters

    Debbie

    Reply

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