In case you’re not familiar, speculoos biscuits or Biscoff biscuits – biscuits you get with coffee, hence the name – have a caramelised, cinnamon and gingerbread flavour and were originally manufactured in Belgium. I first tasted Biscoff in baking when I tasted Ashley’s delicious gingerbread with Biscoff icing – which is as delicious as it sounds – at Bits Bake Shop. So I tracked down my own spread to bake with, and promptly forgot about it, finding it at the back of the larder cupboard during a recent clear-out. I decided to use it to fill my go-to cinnamon bun recipe, but if you can’t find Biscoff spread then you could make a mixture of equal parts butter and brown sugar with a sprinkling of ground ginger and cinnamon to taste. Perfect for this transitional time! To make the speculoos buns, you will need:
250g plain flour
150ml milk
7g yeast sachet
40g butter
25g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the filling:
100g Biscoff spread (see alternative above).
Melt the butter and milk together then allow to cool to body temperature. Add the yeast and set aside for a few minutes, it will start to froth a little. Mix the wet ingredients into the rest of the dry and knead until the mixture forms a dough, then continue to knead for another 10 minutes. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until double in size.
Roll the dough out to approx 15 x 20 cm. Dollop the Biscoff spread over the surface of the dough, then spread evenly. Roll the dough into a sausage and cut into rounds approx 2.5 centimetres thick. Space out evenly on two lined baking trays (I used a round tin, with a few buns leftover to bake on a second tray). Cover and leave to rise again for around thirty minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C Fan and then bake for around 20 minutes. Glaze with maple syrup and serve.
Recipe by me.