These chewy, fudgy biscoff blondies are full of the warming, golden caramel flavors of Belgian speculoos cookies and cookie butter spread. Notes of cinnamon and nutmeg combine with rich, buttery brown sugar in these easy bar cookies.
I keep a jar of cookie butter in the pantry, but really haven't used it until now for anything other than a topping on toast. After making my raspberry white chocolate blondies, I knew the caramel flavors of Belgian biscoff cookies (also known as speculoos) and the cookie butter spread made from them, would be the perfect pairing with the buttery, brown sugar flavors of the blondies.
I've packed in as much as possible. There are crumbled biscoff cookies in the dough and cookie chunks studding the top of the bars. I've added cookie butter spread to the dough and as a decorative drizzle on top. There's no shortage of biscoff taste here.
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Ingredients
- Unsalted butter - using unsalted butter allows you to control the total quantity of salt in the recipe. Salt content in salted butter varies from brand to brand. Melting the butter makes this a really easy cookie recipe to make without a mixer. Using melted butter also gives you a more chewy, dense cookie.
- Biscoff cookie butter spread - I use the creamy variety of cookie butter spread here. You can find cookie butter spread online or in stores. Trader Joe's sells their own version of the spread.
- Brown sugar - brown sugar helps make these blondies moist and chewy and gives them a wonderful caramel taste. Like the melted butter, it also results in a denser bar.
- Egg yolks - this recipe uses two egg yolks. The added fat and reduced moisture creates a richer, fudgier taste and texture.
- Vanilla extract - for added flavor.
- All purpose flour - Flour binds the batter together and provides structure. If you have a scale, I encourage you to weigh your flour for best results.
- Kosher salt - for enhanced flavor.
- Biscoff cookies - Adding broken up biscoff cookies (also known as speculoos cookies, or Belgian spice cookies) contributes additional texture, crunch and flavor to the blondies. You can purchase them online (affiliate link) or find them in the cookie aisle in many grocery stores.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Step 1: In a microwave safe bowl, heat butter and brown sugar in 30 second increments until fully melted. Add cookie butter and stir until well incorporated and the mixture looks smooth and glossy.
Step 2: Step 2: Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and mix again.
Step 3: With a spoon or spatula, mix in flour and salt.
Step 4: Break 4 Lotus biscoff cookies into small pieces. Add to dough and mix just to distribute throughout batter.
Step 5: If your batter is still warm from the melted butter, it might still be thin. If so, pour it into the pan and smooth evenly. If it has cooled and become a thicker dough, scoop the batter into the pan in spoonfuls and gently press it into an even layer.
Step 6: Bake for 21-24 minutes, until center is fully set, top is gently golden brown, and bars are beginning to pull away from the pan at the edges.
Hint: For best results (and neat slices), wait until the blondies are completely cool before cutting into pieces. They'll have a denser, fudgier mouthfeel if allowed to cool first so the butter and cookie butter can set.
Variations
I chose to make the biscoff flavor in these speculoos blondies the main focus, so I omitted additional items like white chocolate chips. Feel free to try these variations if you want a more complex flavor!
- White chocolate biscoff blondies - Add 120 grams (4 oz, ⅔ cup) coarsely chopped chunks of white chocolate (or white chocolate chips) to the dough. Baking time may need to be increased a few minutes due to additional volume.
- Extra spice - For an extra big punch of speculoos flavor, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated if you have it) to the dry ingredients. For authenticity and best flavor match to the biscoff taste, seek out Ceylon cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon is most common in Belgian recipes, including speculoos cookies, and is lighter and more floral in flavor than Cassia cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon is most commonly used in the United States and flavors recipes like cinnamon rolls and apple pie.
- Chocolate chip biscoff blondies - Add 120 grams (4 oz, ⅔ cup) coarsely chopped chunks of your favorite chocolate bar (or chocolate chips) to the dough. Baking time may need to be increased by a few minutes due to additional volume.
For other blondie varieties, see my raspberry white chocolate blondies and my brownie blondies!
Equipment
Items below contain affiliate links.
I use this 8 x 8 x 2.25 inch nonstick metal pan to bake most of my bar cookies.
Glass and metal pans conduct heat differently. Glass bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and retains heat for longer once hot. Using a glass pan without adjusting this recipe might result in overbaked edges, as the batter will take longer to cook, and then might bake too quickly towards the sides. If you only have a glass pan, you may need to experiment with lowering the heat by 25 degrees Fahrenheit and baking for an additional 10 minutes. King Arthur Baking has visual examples of recipes tested using different pans here.
Use small or medium binder clips to keep the parchment paper lining the pan from falling down into the blondie dough. I also use them as bag clips to keep my pantry ingredients sealed.
Storage
Store cooled blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Alternatively, freeze the blondies in an airtight container with parchment paper between layers for 2-3 months.
Recipe Tip
If you make the blondie dough promptly, the melted butter will still be warm, and the dough will have a much thinner consistency. If you make the dough slowly (or barely melt the butter), the dough will begin to firm up and you'll need to press it into the pan. I baked batches with the dough both thinner and thicker with no significant change to the final result.
FAQ
Though the terms are similar, the two cookie varieties are actually different from each other. Speculaas cookies originated in the Netherlands and are full of flavorful spices, much like gingerbread. Speculaas spice commonly includes cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, white pepper, cloves, ginger, allspice and cloves.
Speculoos cookies, on the other hand, are from Belgium. They use far less spice than the Dutch version as spices were much more expensive to import to Belgium. These cookies frequently contain only cinnamon, and sometimes nutmeg. The main flavor is a rich caramel taste, which comes from the unique flavor of Belgian brown sugar.
Belgian brown sugar is made from beet sugar that has been caramelized and has a rich, dark flavor profile. This contrasts to most brown sugar in the US, which is made from beet or cane sugar that has had molasses added to it.
Biscoff is the most popular brand of speculoos cookies, made by the Lotus Biscoff brand. They have been making their unique version of speculoos cookies in Lembeke, Belgium since 1932.
Cookie butter also goes by the name biscoff spread or speculoos spread. It is a blended paste made of speculoos cookies, oil, flour and sugar and has a similar consistency to peanut butter. It comes in both crunchy and creamy varieties.
Cookie butter was first introduced in the early part of the 2000s by several competitors on a Belgian TV show featuring inventors, De Bedenkers ("The Inventors.") Lotus Biscoff went on to purchase the recipe from the inventors and incorporate the product into their sales.
📖 Recipe
Biscoff Blondies
Print Recipe Pin RecipeINGREDIENTS
Biscoff Blondies
- 113 grams (4 ounces, 8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 175 grams (¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons) brown sugar
- 90 grams (6 Tablespoons) cookie butter spread (speculoos) - creamy
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150 grams (1¼ cups) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 4 biscoff cookies, broken into marble sized pieces
Biscoff Blondie Topping
- 30 grams (2 Tablespoons) cookie butter spread (speculoos)
- 2 biscoff cookies, broken into marble and quarter sized pieces
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 350° Fahrenheit (177° Celsius, Gas mark 4).
- Line an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) metal baking pan with parchment paper, extending it up opposite sides as a handle to lift out the baked blondies. I like to use binder clips to clip the paper to the sides so that it doesn't slump into the dough.
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat butter and brown sugar in 30 second bursts until fully melted, 60-90 seconds. Add cookie butter and whisk until all ingredients are fully incorporated and the mixture looks smooth and glossy.
- Add egg yolks and vanilla. Whisk thoroughly. With a spoon or spatula, mix in flour and salt.
- Stir in the 4 biscoff cookies that have been broken into small pieces. Mix in just until distributed throughout dough.
- Scoop the dough into the pan and gently press it evenly into the corners. Press the larger broken pieces of remaining 2 biscoff cookies into the dough.
- Bake for 21-24 minutes, until center is fully set, top is golden brown, and bars are pulling away from the pan at the edges. Once somewhat cool, gently warm the remaining 2 Tablespoons of cookie butter in 5 second bursts in the microwave (or over a bowl of hot water). Using a spoon, drizzle runny cookie butter over the bars. Wait until blondies are fully cooled before cutting into pieces.
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