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This year, I decided to bake for Christmas presents instead of racking my brains over what to give each person. Each little bag contained a bunch of star-shaped, homemade Spéculoos cookies, along with some dark and white chocolate topped with crushed pistachios.

The Spéculoos cookies, for those of you who don't know, are somewhat spiced cookies made with brown sugar. Mine had just cinnamon in them (even though traditionally, they have a lot more types of spices), but they are delicious with just that!

Spéculoos recipe:
Ingredients:
- 250 g (2 cups) flour
- 100 g (7 tbs) butter or margarine (using margarine makes it vegan, but slightly softer)
- 150 g (12-13 tbs) brown sugar
- 2 g (1/2 tsp) baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 4-5 tbs cold water

1. Take butter out ahead of time to let it soften.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Cut in softened butter. Rub into the flour into a crumbly mix.
4. Add water until it comes together into a smooth dough. I've found that 4 tbs isn't quite enough, but 5 is too much, so add progressively until you reach the right texture.
5. Roll out and cut into desired shapes.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 15 mins. The baking time could be less or more depending on the size of the cookies.

Originally didn't think of participating, but I guess I'll be entering this in claremanson 's Christmas Contest !

For pictures and more, visit blueblossomsbaking.wordpress.com

Description
This year, I decided to bake for Christmas presents instead of racking my brains over what to give each person. Each little bag contained a bunch of star-shaped, homemade Spéculoos cookies, along with some dark and white chocolate topped with crushed pistachios.

The Spéculoos cookies, for those of you who don't know, are somewhat spiced cookies made with brown sugar. Mine had just cinnamon in them (even though traditionally, they have a lot more types of spices), but they are delicious with just that!

Spéculoos recipe:
Ingredients:
- 250 g (2 cups) flour
- 100 g (7 tbs) butter or margarine (using margarine makes it vegan, but slightly softer)
- 150 g (12-13 tbs) brown sugar
- 2 g (1/2 tsp) baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 4-5 tbs cold water

1. Take butter out ahead of time to let it soften.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Cut in softened butter. Rub into the flour into a crumbly mix.
4. Add water until it comes together into a smooth dough. I've found that 4 tbs isn't quite enough, but 5 is too much, so add progressively until you reach the right texture.
5. Roll out and cut into desired shapes.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 15 mins. The baking time could be less or more depending on the size of the cookies.

Originally didn't think of participating, but I guess I'll be entering this in claremanson 's Christmas Contest !

For pictures and more, visit blueblossomsbaking.wordpress.com