Speculaas {Dutch Spice Cookies}

My husbands family is Dutch. This is a traditional Dutch cookie that his grandmother makes. They are a harder cookie, which I normally don't prefer, but I do love these little goodies. If you were to purchase them in a European shop, there is usually a little windmill stamped on the cookies. I don't have a windmill stamp, so smooshing it with a fork or just leaving it plain works for me! :) This is actually a recipe from Greg's Great Grandmother, Fanny. I have made them a number of times, but today when I was making the dough, I realized there are no eggs in this recipe. YES! I DO NOT like eggs, and I WILL NOT eat raw dough {I know... SO un-American!}. Anyway, we called Grandma to make sure we had the right recipe, and had a really fun talk all about how she makes them and the little tricks she uses {like throwing in handfuls of slivered almonds. Apparently traditional speculaas cookies call for walnuts, but so many family members are allergic to walnuts, she changed it!!}. I don't think I have ever been to her house and not had a Speculaas cookie waiting for me in the cookie jar.

Also, you will love the way these goodies make your home smell... so fragrant! This is also a wonderful cookie dough to wrap up and freeze and pull out when you need a quick treat.

Speculaas

1 Cup Butter, softened

1 Cup White Sugar

1 Cup Shortening

1 Cup Dark Drown Sugar {NOT light!}

4 Cups Flour

1 tsp. Allspice

1 tsp. Nutmeg

4 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Ginger

1 tsp Ground Cloves

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Almond Flavoring

Slivered Almonds {optional}

Cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars. Add the flour & spices. Lastly add in the buttermilk, baking soda, and almond flavoring. Make into 4 rolls, and wrap in waxed paper. Chill before slicing onto a greased or lined cookie sheet. Bake @ 350 degrees for *10-14 minutes.

**I made larger rolls, so I only got 3 out of a single batch of dough. I wrapped them and then secured them with bakers twine, and refrigerated them overnight. You don't need to chill them that long, it just happened to work out that way this time. Its not a proven fact or anything, but I feel like the flavor is a bit stronger when they have had a chance to chill all night.**

* {will vary depending on oven. I noticed my mother-in-law bakes these for 9 minutes, whereas my oven takes more like 14. You don't want them to be too crispy, but they aren't supposed to be soft. The thicker you slice them, the softer they will be You will just need to play the first batch by ear. Just make sure that all the cookies on the sheet are about the same width}.