Speculoos facts for kids
Speculoos (pronounced spek-yoo-lohs) is a tasty biscuit that first came from Belgium. In some places like the United States and the United Kingdom, you might know it as Biscoff. Even though its name sounds a bit like "speculaas," it's actually a different kind of cookie. Speculoos biscuits are made without the mix of strong spices that are used in speculaas.
The main things used to make speculoos are wheat flour, a sweet syrup (made from beet sugar), fat, and sometimes a little cinnamon.
Belgian speculoos uses fewer spices than Dutch speculaas. This is because spices were more expensive to bring into Belgium a long time ago. Speculoos was created in the 1900s around a place called Verviers. It was a cheaper choice for people who couldn't afford the older Dutch speculaas. Today, in some parts of Belgium, people sometimes use the names speculaas and speculoos to mean the same thing.
Popular Speculoos Brands
In Europe, the most famous brand of speculoos is Lotus Speculoos. This company used to sell these biscuits wrapped individually to restaurants and cafes. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the same company sells them as Lotus Biscoff. The name "Biscoff" is a short way of saying "biscuit with coffee."
In October 2020, Lotus Bakeries decided to stop using the word "speculoos" in local markets. They did this to make their brand name the same everywhere. Many grocery stores now also sell their own versions of speculoos biscuits. In the US, cookies called "windmill" or "almond windmill" cookies are often similar to speculoos.
Speculoos as a Spread
For a long time, workers in countries like Belgium and the Netherlands would make a sandwich. They would put butter and speculaas or speculoos cookies on it in the morning. By lunchtime, the cookies would have softened and become like a spread.
In 2008, a Belgian TV show called The Inventors held a contest. Two different groups of people entered with a new idea: a spread made from speculoos cookies. Even though they didn't win the main prize, their idea was very popular. Soon, three different companies started making spreads from crushed speculoos cookies. These spreads quickly became very popular.
By 2007, several Belgian companies began selling this speculoos paste. Now, you can find it all over the world under different names. Some names include Speculla, Cookie Butter, and Biscoff Spread. This spread tastes like caramelized cookies and a bit like gingerbread. It has a color similar to peanut butter. The texture can be smooth and creamy, or it can have small crunchy pieces. The spread is usually made of about 60% crushed speculoos cookies mixed with vegetable oils. In the United States, a store called Trader Joe's sells its own brand of cookie butter. They also sell cookie butter ice cream!
