Could there be a less-appealing name for a food? This is what I wondered when I saw speculoos spread in a list of waffle toppings at Wafels & Dinges, a New York City food truck. It turns out to be a sweet Belgian gingerbread spread, as Thomas DeGeest, the man behind Wafels & Dinges, explained to me. Gingerbread in spread form? Yes, please.
I watched as he slathered the brown paste on my golden waffle much as a brick layer would smear concrete. It resembled peanut butter in its thick texture and nutty color, and it tasted like a caramel ginger cookie puree. It was awesome.
It dawned on me that I recognized the speculoos flavor not as a Belgian treat, but from the little cookies I pray Delta flight attendants don't run out of in coach.
Originating in Belgium and the Netherlands, these cookies are traditionally baked to celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6. They are made with flour, butter, light brown sugar, and a variety of spices like cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves. Less spicy and sweeter than gingerbread, speculoos cookies make a perfect accompaniment to a hot cup of coffee or cocoa. And speculoos spread goes with just about everything else.
Biscoff is the most readily available brand of speculoos cookies, which can be purchased in bulk on their website; and it just so happens that the company also makes a Biscoff spread, designed to taste "just like those fine imported biscuits you've enjoyed on the airline."
The team behind Wafel & Dinges recently started making the spread as well, and it's available online and at their NYC trucks.
Find it:
• Biscoff cookies and speculoos spread at Biscoff
• Wafel & Dinges speculoos spread, $7.95 for a 14 oz. jar at Arcadia NYC
Related: Product: Lotus Caramelised Biscuits
(Images: Wafel & Dinges; Flickr member wisdomlight licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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That's awesome that this is coming to the US! Lotus makes a really delicious Speculoos spread that's widely available in France -- not as fancy-looking, but still awesome! David Lebovitz has written about it a few times.
Yes! Whenever I fly Delta I always ask for 2, and save the second one to eat at home with a cup of tea! I love those silly cookies! And like danslemarais's comment above, David Lebovitz just recently wrote about the Lotus brand Speculoos a Tartiner. Am going to France in November and am going to try and find it to bring home...
In David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, he includes a recipe for one giant spekuloos. It's meant to go in lemon ice cream but it's delicious all by itself. A spread made of them sounds fantastic.
That spread sounds like it would be good mixed into an ice cream base to make cookies n' cream.
Love this stuff! It just finally started being exported to the Netherlands, where I had some this spring. Lotus makes creamy and chunky--the chunky at least reminds you you're really just eating ground-up cookies.
And you are! The ingredients on the Lotus are basically "Vegetable oil, cookies (flour, sugar...)". It's funny that they still start with the cookies.
Ha I was just about to say, David Lebovitz is nuts for the stuff and talks about it on his blog a lot.
Oh, gimme-gimme-gimme-gimme.
That sounds absofrickinglutely delicious!
speculoos spread is delicious! unfortunately i can't find it where i live. so i have to wait till my next trip to belgium or... i've seen several recipes to make homemade speculoos spread online, such as this one: http://seitanismymotor.com/2009/08/28/psp/
Ooh how I love the Biscoff! I remember looking them up once to try to buy them and being put off because I had to buy 200 at a time. I see that you still do, but somehow it seems less daunting.
Those Delat Biscoff cookies are sooooo good. I asked for seconds once. I'll put this on the Christmas list.
This stuff is something of a vegan fetish item, and hot damn is it delicious! I hope the US versions are similarly vegan, so my friends and I can order a crate!
Viva Spekuloos!
Art, anytime you want to try out speculoos cookies and cream ice cream, please do send me a pint to taste test! Zlo, I may need to import this chunky variety you mentioned. Viva speculoos indeed!
Love it. Food trucks are moving to the store shelves as well as brick and mortar restaurants.
If you are interested in the food truck industry check out Mobile Cuisine.
Keep an eye out. Trader Joes carries this spread, they call it cookie butter or spread. I hadn't been able to find the Biscoff or Spekuloos elsewhere.
At first, we had trouble finding things to put it on. My delivery method of choice is pretzels (also perfect for nutella) and my husband likes it on white bread with marshmallow fluff (disgusting!).
I always steal all of the spekulatius out of my Omi's Christmas parcels. I would love to eat this stuff plain.
Also at Trader Joe's are chocolate bars fulled with this stuff, which are absolutely amazing.
I bought back a couple of jars of this stuff from Paris this year but don't really know how to use it! I'm not really a toast kind of person so I'm thinking baking with it would be better? The ice cream suggestion sounds good though...
Indeed in Belgium (where I am writing from right now) you do find speculoos ice cream...and it is divine! I can vouch for it!!
I bought the one from Trader Joe's! Yum.
Right now Haagen Daaz makes a "spiced cookie" flavored limited edition ice cream- if you read the label its speculoos cookie and cream ice cream. Bet your local grocery has it now. All of you can have speculoos ice cream in 15 minutes if you want!
Also, for everyone saying they buy Biscoff in bulk or hoard them on Delta, pretty much every grocery store I've been to in the last half decade or so sells normal sized packages in the cookie aisle. And more and more stores are starting to carry the spread (which you can eat a jar of by yourself. Its not even funny)
Speculoos is ridiculously easy to make too. We make them at Christmas and fight for how long they'll last!
I've been seeing it in major grocery store chains. Check near the peanut butter.
Tip: Try it in place of peanut butter in your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. Yes, cookie-spread cookies. They're fantastic.
Speculoos are possibly my favorite cookies. When I lived in Brussels for a few years after college my flat usually had a box (or two) in the kitchen. I've been tempted by the spread but haven't tried it yet. Maybe I'll have to give it a go...
We can't get it here in the UK. My brother in law loves Lotus biscuits, and when I found out about this stuff we ordered some from Belgium (the company delivers internationally, it wasn't cheap...) we ordered some for ourselves to make it worth the postage.
It's nice, and goes very quickly! However, I've also used it to make a cheesecake with.
Using Lotus biscuits for the base, a thin layer of apple purée with raisins, then a vanilla cheesecake with lotus spread swirled in (I warmed it up first to make it easier to get in, but probably shouldn't have, as it was too runny). It tasted great, and I was glad I put the apple in, but the apple kind of split the cheesecake with the excess moisture, so it needs work...
FYI for those with a Le Pain Quotidien nearby, I know the one by my office in Washington DC carries speculoos spread.
The Fresh Market in St. Petersburg sells regular-sized packs of Biscoff cookies, and I'll be checking today to see if they have the spread, as well!
If you live in Philly, get yourself to Little Babies Ice Cream for their vegan speculoos ice cream immediately! And watch their super creepy videos that have made them an Internet sensation too.
I live in Michigan and can find Biscoff cookies at Walgreens and I have seen the spread in the last handful of months at Meijer and I think even Walmart.
I've been buying this stuff for almost 2 years now (at Wal-Mart, so it's definitely available). I can get the cookies too.
Put it in your plain yogurt. Trust me.
I love Biscoff cookies! I get them at Rite Aid for under $2.50 a package :)
You can buy this at Pain le Quotidien
I live in the southeastern US and was able to find Biscoff Spread at my Publix grocery store - I found it too waxy tasting (like hydrogenated peanut butter). But I recently picked up a jar of Jules Destrooper speculoos spread and it was amazing - so much better than the Biscoff version!
(http://www.belgique.co.uk/87_chocolate_biscuits_and_jams/88_jules_destrooper/621-speculoospasta_200g/)
Since the cookies are so much easier to find, I wonder if there is a good speculoos spread recipe out there?