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
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, softened
- 2/3 cup (121.33 g) Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp (1.5 tsp) ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp (0.75 tsp) ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) ground nutmeg
- 2 1/2 cups (280 g) almond flour
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) baking soda
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) 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 1/8 to 1/4 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.
Notes
Nutrition
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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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!
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!
what kind of oil would you recommend? Is that really all the spread is? I thought it would have included more ingredients…..
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.
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 🙂
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
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.
so you used the full amount of swerve for the erythritol plus the 16 drops of stevia?
Yup! 😉 I like the combo of Swerve and erythritol, I really find it gives just the right sweetness.
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!
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!
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!
Wow cant wait to try,I love biscoff spread.Hope it works yummmm Thanks.
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.
LOL, I hoard things I love from my husband too!
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?
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
These cookies look scrumptious! Still loving the new look too!
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.
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!
love these! I just pinned them
I love Biscoff spread,its addictive,I cant wait to make these cookies and try to do a spread,sugarfree of course.Wow thanks
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.
Biscoff cookies are my weakness!! Love the new site Carolyn!
Haha, you’re so funny! These look like a tasty treat!
This is my dream come true, Carolyn! I cannot wait to try these!!
Carolyn, I love biscoff cookies way more than biscoff spread. These are right up my alley. Love the new look, by the way. 🙂
I don’t think these would have lasted long in our house either. They look pretty awesome.