Dutch Gevulde Speculaas
Gevulde Speculaas is one of my favorite things to eat in fall and winter. Actually, I like to eat just about anything with speculaas spice in it…. Just for the food alone maybe that time of year is my favorite time. Speculaas is a traditional Dutch spice that’s similar to the North American pumpkin pie spice. Gevulde speculaas is a speculaas cookie filled with almond paste. I used my homemade almond paste for this recipe but you can also use store bought almond paste if that’s available in your area.
How To Make Gevulde Speculaas
You’ll need, dark brown sugar, all-purpose flour, milk, baking powder, salt, speculaas spice mix, butter, almond paste, eggs and a few halved almonds for decoration. (The full list of ingredients including measurements can be found in the recipe card below.)
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
Add dark brown sugar.
Add speculaas spice mix.
Add butter.
And add just a touch of milk. Knead all ingredients thoroughly into a dough.
You should have a nice cookie dough.
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for roughly 30 minutes.
Lightly whisk the eggs.
Crumble the almond paste into a bowl.
Add a little over half of the egg to the almond paste.
Mix the egg with the almond paste until fully incorporated.
Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into two equal pieces.
Roll out both pieces into a rectangle of approximately 6 inch x 12 inch / 15 cm x 30 cm.
Transfer one of the pieces of dough onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Spread the almond paste mixture on the dough, make sure to leave a little space on the sides.
Take the second piece of dough and place that onto the dough with almond paste. As you can see I rolled out the second piece of dough on some clingfilm to make it easier to transfer.
Seal the almond paste by tucking in the edges of the dough.
Brush the dough with the remaining egg.
Decorate the gevulde speculaas with halved almonds. Bake in the oven for roughly 40-45 minutes, till golden.
You’ll end up with a lovely looking gevulde speculaas like this.
Cut the gevulde speculaas into cubes and serve. They can be eaten warm or cold.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 45 minutes |
| Passive Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
squares |
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 250 gram
- 2 teaspoons baking powder 10 gram
- pinch salt
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 150 gram
- 2 tablespoons Speculaas Spice Mix can substitute with Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 1/8 stick butter 125 gram
- 3 tablespoons milk 40 mililiter
- 1 2/3 cup almond paste one batch of homemade almond paste
- 1 egg lightly whisked
Ingredients
| |
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add dark brown sugar, speculaas spice mix, butter and milk and knead until a dough forms.
- Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Lightly whisk the eggs. Crumble the almond paste into a bowl. Add a little over half of the egg to the almond paste. Mix the egg with the almond paste until fully incorporated.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into two equal pieces. Roll out both pieces into a rectangle of approximately 6 inch x 12 inch / 15 cm x 30 cm. (You can roll out the dough on some clingfilm to make it easier to transfer.)
- Transfer one of the pieces of dough onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Spread the almond paste mixture on the dough, make sure to leave a little space on the sides.
- Take the second piece of dough and place that onto the dough with almond paste. Seal the almond paste by tucking in the edges of the dough. Brush the dough with the remaining egg.
- Decorate the gevulde speculaas with halved almonds. Bake in the oven for roughly 40-45 minutes, till golden.
Please note that the cup measurements in this recipe are approximate. I have added cups for those that prefer using cups. The recipe is most accurate using weights measurements.
- If you don't have Speculaas Spice Mix you can use Pumpkin Pie Spice instead or us my recipe to make your own Speculaas Spice Mix.
- If you don't have any almond paste you can use my recipe for homemade almond paste to make some yourself. You can use one batch of my homemade almond paste for this recipe.
Thank you for the great recipe.
I made this Gevulde Speculaas as a surprise for my dutch wife, and she says it’s one of the best she ever tasted! Neither Speculaas spice nor Pumpkin pie spice are available in our country, so I used the Speculaas spice mix recipe which was fantastic too. My squares came out almost crispy, more like a cookie than a soft pastry. Is that the way they are meant to be?
I’m glad to hear your wife liked it! The edges can become a little crispy sometimes but the squares usually are a little soft. You can try and lower the temperature or reduce the time next time. Every oven is different so sometimes you’ll need to adjust a bit to get it perfect 🙂
Hi I now made it but it came out flat like a pancake. Not sure where I went wrong.
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out. Several of my readers have made the recipe with success. It’s hard to tell what went wrong without knowing what you did.
Hi! With the almond paste is it just 2/3 cup or 1 cup and a 2/3 cup? Thanks 🙂
It’s 1 cup and a 2/3 cup 🙂
Hi Rachel. I love your site and once in a while I just pass by and check the news. I lived in The Netherlands for 4 years and have tasted most of your delicious recipes. Now I can make them myself at home and enjoy the great moments of my “dutch life”. Thank you for bringing those delicious smells to my life and home sweet home.
You’re welcome, I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes 🙂
I have made this recipe as written twice now and I will never buy off the shelf again.
The taste is amazing?
My only question is…
Does the recipe really need a tablespoon of baking powder?
I would have thought a teaspoon of baking powder would be enough. But I could be wrong.
I’m happy to hear you enjoy the recipe 😀
I actually recently made a slight adjustment to the recipe and use 2 teaspoons of baking powder now, I have adjusted the recipe accordingly. 🙂
Hi! So thankful for this recipe. However my dough never looks like yours in terms of like stability. When I roll out my first part I can never get it into the baking sheet without breaking so end up rolling onto the baking paper… do you think this means I should knead it more?
Also do you use a stand mixer for kneading or would you recommend hand?
Without seeing and feeling the dough it’s hard for me to tell. However, your solution of rolling it out on baking paper is fine as well. When I have a dough that’s not ‘doing what I want’, I do the same as well, it also saves one less step of having to transfer the dough onto baking paper. It’s also the reason I roll out the second piece on some clingfilm sometimes because it makes it easier to transfer it onto the first piece. If the dough comes together the kneading shouldn’t be the problem. You could also try rolling it out a little bit thicker. If you do that it’ll probably need a little longer in the oven depending on how thick you make it.
The good thing about this dough is that it’s very forgiving. If it does break, it’s easy to patch up.
As for kneading the dough itself I’ve used a mixer as well has kneaded the dough by hand. Depending on how much time I have and how much I’m making. Both work for me so you can use whatever method you prefer.
Can the filled cookies be frozen?
I haven’t tried it yet, but I think it can. I would wrap it thoroughly before freezing.
If you live somewhere where there are no speculaaskruiden and no pumpkin spice either, five spice powder is another alternative as it has many of the same spices. I used it as a starting point and added some extra cinnamon and ginger.
The recipe worked great and was much appreciated here in Italy.
Dankjewel!
Can this dough be made a few days ahead of time? How long can you store after it’s cooked?
Hi Nancy,
You can make this dough a day in advance. I haven’t tried it for longer than a day myself. After it’s cooked I store it in an airtight container for up to a week.
Almond past is available on Amazon, in packs of four.
I’m confused. You mention 2 cups A.P. flour 250 grams. However, as u know 1 cup is 250 grams. What is the right measurement to take?
Hi Gerard,
In this recipe I use the conversion of 1 US Cup A.P. flour = 125 grams.
The general conversion for flour on several sites fluctuates between 120 – 150 gram per Cup.
You can see some conversions here:
http://www.traditionaloven.com/culinary-arts/flours/all-purpose-flour/convert-measuring-cup-us-to-gram.html
http://dish.allrecipes.com/cup-to-gram-conversions/
All cup measurements on my site are approximate and when in doubt, the weight is always the most accurate measurement to follow. In this case 250 grams is the correct measurement to use.
How may eggs and how much almond paste?
Hi Arna, for some strange reason the amounts were missing but I’ve added them back again. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Happy baking!
This recipe is just what I’ve been looking for. One tiny problem. Your recipe does not indicate how much almond paste to use. 🙁
Hi Jo, I’m not sure how that part of the recipe disappeared from the site but the amounts have been added back again 🙂 Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Happy baking!