Pull out alllll the spices to make a new family favourite - speculoos bars!
Where we live, every women has ‘their’ Speculoos or speculaas as many write it. Some make cookies, some make cut outs, but my favourite? Is bars. I think cookie bars are so much easier and friends, that's what I’m here for!
This recipe is adapted from one shared by a dear friend, that was her mother's…that I wouldn’t doubt if it came from her mother or mother-in-law!
If you need something allergy-friendly, I also love making egg-free cookie bars. Looking for a new taste? Why not add bacon fat to your cookies.
Why You Need This Recipe
- Makes a TON - we're talking a half sheet pan!
- Freezes so well!
- Is a classic that you need to have in your arsenal.
Key Ingredients
Flour - I like whole wheat pastry flour (and grind my own from soft white wheat) but you can also use all-purpose or your favourite 1-to-1 gluten-free blend.
Sugar - The classic cookie "trick" of using equal parts white and brown sugar for the best taste and texture.
Butter - Yup, an entire pound. Thank me later.
Spices - These are the key to the entire flavour! Nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
How to Make Spice Cookie Bars
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugars until beautifully fluffy.
Step 2: Mix in the eggs and extract, then the spices.
Step 3: Stir in your flour - it will get to be too much for your mixer at this point so elbow grease it is!
Step 4: Spread into a parchment lined half sheet pan. Use your fingers to press it out as evenly as you can.
Step 5: Bake, then I like to lift it out of the pan with parchment.
Step 6: Mix up the glaze and pour it on quick! Then cool and serve.
Tips and Tricks
- Add the icing while the bars are still warm. This will allow it to really soak in.
- You can easily halve these measurements and bake it in a 9x13 pan. In case you didn't know, you can hover over the "1x" on the recipe card to change to "½x" measurements!
- Lining the pan allows you to lift out the entire pan of bars at once so you can get the icing alllll over them.
FAQs
Absolutely! I love the nuttiness it adds to the bars. If you are grinding your own wheat berries, use a soft white wheat as that is just like using a whole wheat pastry flour.
Some of these you might not use very often, so you may get down to the ends of bottles. It might be inauthentic, but I definitely use whatever I have. So not enough ginger in the bottle, use more cinnamon. Just try and stick to the total of 3 tablespoons of spices to make sure and get a strong flavour.
There's a trick to mixing 2 tablespoons of molasses to 2 cups white sugar to get a close approximation to brown, so feel free to use that if you only have white on hand! And have you seen how expensive icing sugar can get? I simply add 2 cups of cane sugar to my high-powered blender and blitz it, then continue on with the glaze.
Photos by Dante from Shire by the Sea
More Dessert Bar Recipes
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Speculoos Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups butter softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups brown sugar OR 2 cups sugar + 2 tablespoons molasses
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoons nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons powdered allspice
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 6 cups fresh ground soft white wheat flour see notes
Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ⅓ cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cream butter and sugars together until well mixed, then add in eggs and almond extract, spices, and mix again.
- Measure in the flour and mix well.
- Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread the dough out well, smushing it out to be fairly even.
- Let it rest 20 minutes for the fresh ground wheat to fully hydrate before baking.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. The top will be puffy and then sink when it comes out. The edges will look gnarly…but friends, this is my favourite slice of the bar!
- To make the icing, mix it up and spread it over while the bars are still warm so that it self levels and seeps in well.
- When cool, slice it into squares and store in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week or move to the freezer for later snacking.
Notes
- In my high powered blender, I put 2 cups of cane sugar, blend until powdered, then add in the almond extract and milk, blend until well combined, then drizzle/spread it all over the bars.
- Soft white wheat is equal to whole wheat pastry flour so you can use that. You can also feel free to use regular all-purpose flour.
CR
I made these last night and they were good but I think I would use a leavening agent next time, mine did not rise like your picture did.
Grace
Love the flavour even without the icing! Is there supposed to be baking soda or powder? I decided to add 1tsp each as per my other bulk cookie recipes. So if it turns out differently it's my fault ?. I didn't have almond flavouring which I imagine is important for a traditional flavour but I added some vanilla instead. They turned out delicious regardless, I will be making them again!
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This recipe doesn't call for Baking powder or soda but if it worked for you then great!