Homemade speculoos for Saint Nicholas Day: crisp, spiced, easy
On 6 December, Saint Nicholas visits Belgian homes and always leaves speculoos behind. Homemade, they fill the whole kitchen with the smell of cinnamon and brown sugar. The dough takes 15 minutes to prepare, rests overnight, and fan-assisted heat lets you bake two trays at once.
- About 40 biscuits, 20 min preparation
- Dough with dark brown sugar and spices
- One night's rest in the fridge for flavour
- 12 to 14 min at 170 °C in fan mode
Appliance and settingOven 170 °C fan, 2 trays
Ingredients
The Saint Nicholas biscuit
In Belgium, speculoos is everywhere all year round, but it really comes into its own around 6 December when it really makes sense. For Saint Nicholas' Day, you find it in large format, moulded into the shape of a saint with his crozier and mitre. The true flavour comes from dark brown sugar, which gives it that hint of caramel, and a spice blend. It's a perfect recipe to make with the children.
The steps
- Beat the butter and sugar together. In a mixing bowl, cream the soft butter with the sugar using a spatula or electric whisk until smooth. Add the egg and mix.
- Add the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Tip them onto the butter and sugar mixture and mix by hand until a ball forms. If the dough crumbles, add a spoonful of milk.
- Leave to rest overnight. Flatten the ball into a disc, wrap it in clingfilm and keep it in the fridge for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 170 °C fan. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Roll out and cut. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out to 4 to 5 mm thick. Cut out shapes with cutters (Saint Nicholas, stars, Christmas trees) or use a wooden mould. Place the biscuits on the trays, leaving 2 cm between them.
- Chill for 10 minutes. Put the trays in the fridge while the oven finishes heating: the shapes will keep their sharp outlines.
- Bake two trays at a time. Put them in on shelves 2 and 4 for 12 to 14 minutes. The edges should be slightly darker. When they come out, the biscuits are still soft: that's normal.
- Leave to cool 5 minutes on the tray, then on a wire rack. They become crisp as they cool.
Appliance settings
| Step | Appliance and mode | Setting | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baking on 2 trays | Oven, fan setting (3D hot air) | 170 °C, shelves 2 and 4 | 12 to 14 min |
| Baking on 1 tray | Oven, conventional heat | 180 °C, shelf 2 | 12 to 15 min |
| Large moulded speculoos (20 cm) | Oven, fan-assisted | 160 °C, shelf 2 | 18 to 22 min |
| Re-crisping | Oven, fan-assisted | 160 °C | 3 to 4 min |
3D fan heat spreads hot air across several shelves: it's the right setting for baking several trays of biscuits at once. With conventional heat, bake one tray at a time.
Variations
- With almonds : scatter flaked almonds over before baking, like bakery ‘almond' speculoos.
- Large Saint Nicholas : a single large moulded biscuit 20 cm across, to give on the morning of 6 December.
- Spread : blend 150 g of spéculoos with 10 cl of unsweetened condensed milk and 2 tablespoons of neutral oil.
- Decorated : an icing of icing sugar and lemon juice, piped with a piping bag, for the kids.
Storage and advance preparation
Spéculoos keep for 3 weeks in a tightly closed tin, away from damp. They're even better after 2 or 3 days. Raw dough keeps 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer : make a double batch at the end of November, and you'll have fresh biscuits for Saint Nicholas' Day and then for Christmas.
Your spices need to be fresh: cinnamon opened two years ago has almost no flavour left. And when baking with the children, roll the dough directly between two sheets of baking paper: it won't stick, and you can cut out shapes without flouring the whole worktop. The crumbs? They're perfect in a chocolate Yule log.
Which appliance?
For biscuits, the ideal is an oven that can bake several trays at once without one tray browning more than the other.
A pyrolytic oven with 3D fan heat
Siemens HB574ABR3F (iQ300, 3D forced air, cookControl10) or Bosch HBA571BB4 (Series 2, Hotair 3D, AutoPilot 10).
£809.99 and £649.99
An oven with conventional heating and bottom heat
For pastry, choose an oven that offers conventional heating and bottom heat. Examples: Smeg SFP61TB3FR (Linea, pyrolytic, 10 modes, up to 280 °C), Beko BCBIM17604KSBMPS (pyrolytic, 3D hot air, Wi-Fi), Whirlpool OMR55RR0B (conventional heating, pizza mode, pyrolytic and hydrolysis cleaning).
From €629.99 to €759.99
Public prices noted on 15 October 2026: the product page is definitive, and Nimesclub members often get a reduced price.
Ovens for biscuits in store
Built-in oven SIEMENS HB574ABR3F€543.00
Built-in Oven BOSCH HBA571BB4€649.00
SMEG SFP61TB3FR built-in oven€759.00
Built-in oven BEKO BCBIM17604KSBMPS€629.00
Built-in oven WHIRLPOOL OMR55RR0B€749.00For Christmas morning, follow up with a homemade cougnou. And if you're torn between fan oven and natural convection, read our guide to oven functions.
Frequently asked questions
Why rest the dough overnight?
The spices have time to flavour the whole dough, and the sugar dissolves. Cold dough is also much easier to roll out and cut: the shapes stay crisp in the oven.
My spéculoos are soft, what should I do?
They need more baking or have taken on moisture. Put them back in for 3 to 4 minutes at 160 °C, let them cool completely on a wire rack and store them in a tightly closed tin.
Can you use a wooden spéculoos mould?
Yes. Flour the mould well, press the dough in, scrape off the excess with a knife, then turn out by tapping the mould on the worktop. Chill the biscuits in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking to keep the pattern.
The right oven makes all the difference
Steam ovens, pyrolytic ovens, induction hobs: come and see them at our Temploux store, or ask our expert salesperson for advice.
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