You’re probably familiar with a certain “cookie spread” that’s become very popular recently: cookies pulverized to a smooth paste, with the texture of peanut butter and the taste of a sweet, cinnamon-ginger-y cookie. But you’d be surprised to discover that the normal version of this cookie is even better than the spread, and its name is just as fun to say as the cookie is to eat.
Speculoos (say it with us! [speky’lo:s]) are crunchy cookies made of a unique mixture of 9 spices and baked into fun shapes with the help of wooden molds. They’re super popular in Belgium, where they’re served with coffee, tea or other hot drinks.
Belgium just happens to be where maker Evy Ballegeer is from. There, she’d serve them to friends and family at “coffee klatches,” and found herself missing their familiar sweet crunch when she moved to Berkeley, California. She reached peak nostalgia in 2013, which was when she decided to found Little Belgians in order to recreate the speculoos of yesteryear and share the joy with her friends and loved ones. Evy uses only organic, local and fair-trade ingredients for the cookies, which also contain no preservatives and are packaged in US-sourced materials with compostable labels.
We love them for their totally addictive sweet taste, their impeccable ability to complement a cup of joe (and melt gloriously in your mouth after dunking), and the cute shapes they come in: there’s an umbrella (an homage to rainy Belgian afternoons), a bird (a shout-out to the Belgian national sport of pigeon hunting) and a house from Evy’s favorite Belgian city, Ghent.
Evy’s speculoos are getting the recognition they deserve: Little Belgians is a finalist in the Marth Stewart American Made Awards! This might just be specu-lation, but we foresee Evy’s speculoos “spreading” far beyond our expectations.