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Speculaas or Spekulaitus

Ingredients
¾ cup of butter
2 cups brown sugar, not packed
1 egg
1 cup ground almonds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon of salt (none needed if using salted butter)
½ teaspoon each of cloves, ginger, cardamon, and mace (or allspice)
2 teaspoons cocoa
grated rind of one lemon
3 cups flour
4-6 Tablespoons of milk

sliced almonds for underneath cookies
milk for glazing

Cream butter and brown sugar together. Then add egg, mixing well. Add ground almonds, salt, spices, cocoa and lemon rind. Work in flour and milk, about a half cup of flour at a time until it is a stiff dough. You may need to chill the dough for 30-60 minutes before pressing the cookies.

Roll the dough to a thickness to accommodate the molds, usually around ¼ inch thick or a little more. You will have to experiment with this, as it depends on the mold you are using. Prepare molds by dusting generously with flour and knocking off excess, making sure all crevices are floured. They may be lightly sprayed with cooking oil and then wiped before flouring, as you would with a cake pan. Press mold into dough and cut off excess flush with back of mold, or around the outside of the mold. Carefully unmold onto lightly greased baking sheet that you may sprinkle with almonds. Brush lightly with milk and place in a pre-heated oven set to 350 degrees F for 10-20 minutes.* Yield may be 20-50 cookies, depending on the size of the mold.

*Baking time will vary depending on how accurate your oven is and the thickness of the cookie.

(If the design fades during the baking process, place the molded cookies in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes prior to baking.)