Sweetly spiced, crispy keto speculoos cookies are a must-bake low carb treat. Made famous by the Biscoff brand, these Dutch spice cookies get a sugar-free, gluten-free makeover.
You may never have heard of speculoos, but chances are good you’ve heard of Biscoff brand. Well, consider these crispy spice cookies the keto version of Biscoff. But so much better.
How do I describe these delicious keto cookies? They are like thin shortbread with plenty of cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. And they are not to be missed!
They look rather unassuming, as cookies go. But one bite of these buttery crisp shortbread, and you understand instantly why they’re so popular in Europe.
All that warm spice exploding in your mouth transports you straight to the famed Christmas markets.
(This post was originally published in June, 2012.)
What are speculoos cookies?
Speculoos are spiced shortcrust cookies traditionally baked around St. Nicholas’ Day (December 6th) in Belgium and the Netherlands. Speculoos is the Belgian term and Speculaas is the Dutch term for these cookies.
They are usually quite thin and crispy, and perfectly seasoned with a combination of spices. And they often come stamped or in pretty shapes like the traditional Dutch Windmill Cookies.
Lotus Bakeries created the brand name Biscoff for the American market. And they gained huge popularity through their partnership with Delta Airlines.
These keto speculoos are just as tasty, with all the same delicious spiciness. And they’re easy to make too. They may just become your new favorite keto Christmas cookies!
Ingredients for keto speculoos
Similar to shortbread, these cookies are totally egg-free. You will need:
- Butter
- Sweetener (must be erythritol based!)
- Vanilla
- Spices including cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg or mace
- Almond flour (see FAQ for nut-free suggestions)
- Baking soda
- Salt
Using the right sweetener
The outcome of your keto speculoos depends heavily on the sweetener you use. I featured these cookies in a recent YouTube video, showing the difference sweeteners make.
People often assume that all keto sweeteners work the same way, and make substitutions based on what they prefer. And when their cookies come out soft and not crisp, they think the recipe is to blame.
The ONLY sweeteners that will produce a crisp cookie are erythritol based, like Swerve or Lakanto. Any amount of allulose and/or BochaSweet, and your cookies will be soft and cake-y.
Traditional speculoos cookies take brown sugar, but I found that Swerve Brown made them a little less crisp than Swerve Granular. And allulose made them totally soft and floppy!
Watch my video to see how the different sweeteners change the keto speculaas cookies.
The Ultimate Guide to Keto Sweeteners breaks down the properties of various sweeteners in great detail. I recommend reading it!
More tips for making keto speculoos cookies
- Use properly softened butter. Make sure it’s soft but not melted and beat the sweetener in until it’s nicely creamed. Then beat in the vanilla and the spices.
- Use finely ground almond flour. Speculoos cookies should be thin and crisp, and the dough needs to be quite cohesive to roll out properly. Coarsely-ground nut meal makes cookies more gritty and crumbly.
- Baking soda vs. baking powder. These cookies aren’t meant to rise so don’t add any baking powder. But a bit of baking soda helps them brown nicely in the oven without making them rise.
- Cut them as desired. There are so many possible ways to cut speculoos cookies, from circles and hearts to stars and rectangles. I cut some of mine free-hand with a fluted pastry wheel, but this rectangular cookie cutter would work well too.
- Let them cool completely. As always with keto cookies, they won’t be truly crisp until they are completely cool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Coconut flour is not a good substitute for these cookies. But you can try using sunflower seed flour. You will need to add a tablespoon of acid, like lemon juice or vinegar, to offset the green reaction that occurs between sunflower seeds and baking soda.
I haven’t tried but I imagine that softened coconut oil or palm shortening would work well. If you can tolerate ghee, that’s another great option.
Please refer to the section “Using the right sweetener” to understand how sweetener substitutions will affect your keto speculoos cookies.
It is important to understand that most “monk fruit sweeteners” are really erythritol with a little monk fruit to make them sweeter. True monk fruit is a highly concentrated extract that is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. It’s a bit of a marketing gimmick, to be honest.
Read the ingredient list on your sweetener package. If the only ingredients are erythritol and monk fruit, then yes, you can use this. If it has even a little allulose in it, your cookies won’t crisp up properly.
Carolyn recommends:
- Silicone liners are the best way to protect the bottom of you cookies from getting too dark
- This small Ateco offset spatula is my favorite kitchen tool! Perfect for spreading frosting and wiggling under cut-out cookies.
- Don’t skip the cardamom! It helps give speculoos cookies their classic flavor.
Keto Speculoos Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- ⅔ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sweetener together until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the spices.
- Add the almond flour, baking soda, and salt and beat until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into to even discs.
- Dust a work surface lightly with almond flour. Place one disc on the work surface and cover with parchment paper. Roll out to ⅛ to ¼ inch thick as evenly as possible.
- Cut the cookies into desired shapes with cookie cutters or a pastry wheel. Wiggle an offset spatula carefully under the cookies to loosen them from the work surface. Place on the prepared baking sheets. Gather the scraps and re-roll to get as many cookies as possible. Repeat with the second disc of dough.
- Bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden brown (how long depends on how thinly you rolled the dough). Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the pans. They will still be soft to the touch but will crisp up as they cool.
- If they don't crisp up completely, place back in a warm (200°F) oven for another 10 to 15 minutes.
Linda says
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
Carolyn says
No, that didn’t really happen to me. Perhaps you could put them back in the freezer after they are cut?
Rachel H says
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.
Carine says
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?
Carolyn says
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 😉
Carine says
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…
Carolyn says
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.
Guinan says
Try * dieetwebshop.nl * for brown sugar replacement.
BTW Caroline, they’re suppósed to be dark in colour! … at least the Dutch ones are.
Gerri says
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!
Carolyn says
I think it would work and I’d aim for about 2 tsp with the same amount of Swerve.
angela says
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!
Carolyn says
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!
angela says
what kind of oil would you recommend? Is that really all the spread is? I thought it would have included more ingredients…..
Carolyn says
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.
angela says
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 🙂
angela says
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
Carolyn says
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.
angela says
so you used the full amount of swerve for the erythritol plus the 16 drops of stevia?
Carolyn says
Yup! 😉 I like the combo of Swerve and erythritol, I really find it gives just the right sweetness.
Andrea@simplylivinghealthy.org says
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!
Carolyn says
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!
Kim - Liv Life says
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!
Granny says
Wow cant wait to try,I love biscoff spread.Hope it works yummmm Thanks.
Emily @ Life on Food says
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.
Carolyn says
LOL, I hoard things I love from my husband too!
Susan says
Carolyn I’ve read this recipe three times and I can’t figure out when to add the “16 drops of stevia extract.” Is that a misprint?
Carolyn says
No. This is a pretty old recipe, from when I used to use the bottled (very concentrated) stevia extract. It’s about 1/4 tsp
Russell at Chasing Delicious says
These cookies look scrumptious! Still loving the new look too!
Kim Bee says
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.
Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch says
These sounds fabulous! I found you through Lizzy over at that Skinny Chick Can Back! She is right you have a fabulous blog! I would love for you to link these up over at our Fabulous Friday Party! http://www.serenabakessimplyfromscratch.com/2012/06/fabulous-friday-party.html
Have a fabulous weekend!
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
love these! I just pinned them
Granny says
I love Biscoff spread,its addictive,I cant wait to make these cookies and try to do a spread,sugarfree of course.Wow thanks
Shannon K. says
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.
TidyMom says
Biscoff cookies are my weakness!! Love the new site Carolyn!
Shawn @ I Wash...You Dry says
Haha, you’re so funny! These look like a tasty treat!
Cassie says
This is my dream come true, Carolyn! I cannot wait to try these!!
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective says
Carolyn, I love biscoff cookies way more than biscoff spread. These are right up my alley. Love the new look, by the way. 🙂
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
I don’t think these would have lasted long in our house either. They look pretty awesome.