Speculoos spread is similar to peanut butter but tastes more like graham crackers or gingerbread rather than peanuts. My buddy who went to Europe last summer came back with an obsession with speculoos and said that people eat it like crazy there. I, however, was not immediately fond with the new spread invading my nutella love affair. Speculoos did grow on me eventually so I decided that it would be good to try a cookie with the spread. I decided to substitute a peanut butter cookie with speculoos and see how it turned out. Spoiler alert: it turned out awesome! The texture is flaky and crunchy while the flavor is sweet and complex.

Ingredients:

3 cups AP flour

1 2/4 teaspoons baking soda

2 cup (4 sticks) unsalted butter (room temp)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large egg

1 teaspoon Guinness Beer

1 jar of speculoos

1 cup of cocoa nibs

1/2 cup of dark chocolate chunks

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour and baking soda and salt in a bowl with a whisk.

2. Put butter and both sugars in your electric mixer with the paddle attachment and mix until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in eggs, mix until combined. Add in beer and speculoos spread. Add flour in slowly and mix until just combined. Take off the bowl and mix in with a spatula the cocoa nibs and chocolate.

3. Using a cookie scoop, drop the cookie balls onto baking sheets with parchment paper. Space about 1 1/2 inches apart, these cookies will spread. Don’t bother pressing these cookies, they spread on their own.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating once during cook time. The edges of the cookies should get a little color and then you know they are done. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10-15 mins then place on wire racks.

Yield: 4 dozen

Shelf Life: 3 days in airtight container

I can’t really taste the Guinness but I think the beer off-sets the sweetness of the speculoos nicely. I would definitely make these again!