Speculoos à tartiner
Today is a very sad day. I did that thing–which I hope, for the sake of my dignity, that other people do too–where you buy something delicious, blaze through most of the jar and then gaze longingly at the bits at the bottom, rationing them spoonful by tiny spoonful until you finally have to admit defeat and recycle it.
I am coming to the end of my jar of Speculoos spread, and I have no way of getting any more.
I first heard about Speculoos spread from two of my favorite bloggers, and their descriptions of it are pretty spot-on: it’s a “buttery, toasty, not too sweet,” gingersnappy spread. Basically, Speculoos are Belgian spice cookies that are widely available in Europe, and Speculoos à tartiner is a big jar full of crushed cookies with the consistency of peanut butter. It revolutionized my breakfast these past two weeks: imagine a piece of toasted oatmeal bread with a generous spoonful of cookie-flavored spread on top, and you can understand my recent morning happiness. I have to say that, in my book, this stuff tops both peanut butter and Nutella, which will definitely be taking their place behind Speculoos in my pantry if ever I can find another jar.
Unfortunately, though I found the cookies at my local supermarket, the spread is proving much more difficult to track down. I’ve even taken a pilgrimage to the supermarket inside the Corte Inglés, which is the giant Spanish superstore that all Spaniards have a love/hate relationship with; no one likes the monstrous stores and jacked-up prices, but if you’re looking for an item that has proven difficult to find elsewhere, you’re sure to find it in the Corte Inglés. That is, unless what you’re looking for is a delicious French cookie spread, in which case you’re plum out of luck.
I’ll keep up the Speculoos search in Madrid, but if I still don’t find it, I just may have to take a trip across the Pyrenees. Till then, I’ll keep rationing the bits that are left in the hopes of getting one or two more breakfasts out of the jar I’ve got.
The Wandering Chef 
Say you were given the (chemically impossible) challenge of turning Speculoos the cookie into Speculoos the spread. How would you approach it? Or is there something else you can do with the cookie? I happen to have more Speculaas (Dutch but probs similar) than I can nibble on and have been wondering about other ways to eat it.
I love your question, because I’ve been thinking about this very idea. I think I would finely grind the cookies in a food processor and slowly add in some kind of spreadable agent, probably softened butter. Ooh, or perhaps browned butter? I imagine, however, that the homemade version would always be slightly gritty. If I try it, I’ll let you know!
As for other ways to eat the cookies, I really enjoy them with coffee. Simple but delicious.
Great idea! I might actually give that a go 🙂 Good luck on your search in Madrid!
So, I never mentioned this…but a month ago, I ran into a food cart (here in nyc) that had Speculoos. I really wish I bought some. So much.
I recently discovered a website to buy Speculoos, also known as “Biscoff Spread” in the States, and I’m definitely planning on buying a few jars.
Just from reading the list of ingredients the spread is made of pulverised speculoos biscuits, a bit of oil and sugar and an emulsifier to stop the ingredients from separating. So it should be possible to make – I think the trick will be to get the biscuits small enough to be smooth rather than gritty. Having said that I think I saw a new crunchy version of the spread on the Lotus website a short while ago.
I’ve got my speculoos biscuits, vegetable oil and sugar ready – now I just need some time to experiment.