Gevuld speculaas (almond filled speculaas)
Making gevuld speculaas is fun to do and so much better than store bought! This Sinterklaas treat is also fun to make with kids.
While I was making speculaas the other dat I just couldn't resist transforming some of the dough into 'gevuld speculaas'. Gevuld speculaas is speculaas filled with almond paste. I think it is my favourite cookie all times.
As soon as it is november, all shop windows are filled with Sinterklaas sweets and pastries such as gevuld speculaas. Delicious, but of course making it yourself is even better!
Usually I just make speculaas cookies, but when I feel like making something a bit more special, this recipe is definitely on top of my list!
Tip: You can also make almond filled speculaas hearts or pepernoten!
Ingredients
Flour - for this recipe it is best to use all purpose flour. This contains less gluten than bread flour so you get a nice crunchy speculaas with a soft almond filling.
Speculaas spices - you can buy ready made speculaas spices, but making your own is also very easy. My recipe for speculaas spice mix is made with spices that you probably already have in your kitchen cupboard!
Butter - In my recipes I always use unsalted butter unless I state otherwise. You can also replace the butter with margarine or a vegetable butter if you are lactose intolerant.
Almond paste -
Why does the dough needs to rest for a few hours?
The speculaas spices need some time to develop their flavor. The longer you let the dough rest the better the flavor becomes.
Not only does the taste sausage better, but the color also gets a lot darker! Personally, I like speculaas best if it has been in the refrigerator for two days.
Equipment
- Two mixing bowls
- A rolling pin
Storage
Gevuld speculaas can be kept at room temperature for about a week. If you want to keep it longer, I recommend freezing it.
You can keep it in the freezer for about three months.
You can also freeze the dough before baking. In that case, take it out of the freezer well in advance and knead it well.
More Speculaas recipes to try next
Gevulde Speculaas
Ingredients
For the speculaas dough
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons speculaas spice mix
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons milk
For the almond filling
- 8 oz. almond paste
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Place the flour together with the baking powder, sugar, butter, speculaaskruiden, salt, and milk in a bowl and mix quickly by hand into a soft dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for one hour. Resting allows all the flavors to develop well and ensures that your dough is not too soft to handle.
- Preheat the oven to 347 °F 175 °C.
- Loosen the eggs in a bowl and knead in the almond paste. Set aside a small amount of egg to give the gevulde speculaas an egg wash.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and divide it into two equal pieces.
- Roll out the first piece into a slice about 1 cm thick and place it on a cold baking sheet lined with baking paper.½
- Spread the almond filling over this. Be sure to leave a 1-2 cm border free so that you can press the second slice onto it.
- Roll out the second piece of dough and place it on top of the almond filling.
- Press down the edges and brush the dough with the remaining egg or with some milk.
- Put the baking tray in the center of the oven and bake the filled speculaas for about 30 minutes. Let it cool for a while and cut it into equal pieces.
Notes
- Let the dough rest in the fridge for at least an hour to improve both the texture and flavor of your gevulde speculaas.
- These cookies will keep for about five days at room temperature and six months in the freezer.
- This recipe works with both homemade and store-bought almond paste.
The recipe needed more butter and milk to make a dough.
Hi Annina! I've been making this recipe for 20+ years and never needed to add more butter or milk so i'm not sure what went wrong. Did you make the recipe by hand or in a mixer?
Agree. Something obviously wrong with the amount of milk. 2 table spoons of milk wont make 2 and a half cup of flour into a dough. I used half a cup of milk. 👍🏻
Hi Pieter. When you make this recipe you want to use butter that has at least 35% fat and knead the dough by hand. This is how we make it in the Netherlands and I have never heard anyone adding more milk or water.
Hello.
Loved Gevulde Soeulaas when I lived in the NL. Would love to try and make it!
Where can one buy this almond paste that you are referring to? Os it marzipan? Is there a brand that you can give us (in the UK or U.S.)?
These are amazing. Note that I used the metric measures as the US Measure has double the flour.
Hi There
What is the weight of a stick of butter?
Hi Helena. One stick of butter is 113 grams.
Hi Helena! One stick of butter is 113 grams.