Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups of sugar
• 4 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baker’s ammonia
• Two large fresh eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 7 ounces of butter
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• One tablespoon of vanilla sugar

Directions

1. Firstly, in a large bowl, cream the granulated sugar and vanilla sugar with the butter until they are well combined.
2. After this beat in the eggs, slowly one at a time.
3. Now sift or mix the flour with the baker’s ammonia or baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cardamom, and cloves.
4. Then Stir this into the creamed mixture until a stiff dough forms.
5. Form the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap.
6. Refrigerate this for 2 or more hours. Keeping it overnight is the best.
7. Now oil and flour a Spekulatius mould. Tap out all the excess flour after this.
8. After that roll a golf ball size piece of dough between your hands which are lightly floured into an egg shape.
9. Press the dough into the mould and fill all the crevices.
10. Using a sharp knife or a piece of the kitchen twine cut off the excess dough. This way the dough will flush into the mould.
11. Tap the mould onto the counter to release the cookie. You can use a sharp knife to start the release of the cookie.
12. Now carefully place them on a cookie sheet and repeat with the rest of the dough.
13. If this process becomes hectic, just use your favorite cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
14. Now bake it in an oven which is heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 minutes, or until the cookies brown slightly.
15. You can decorate these cookies like those conventional sugar cookies, but make sure the old-fashioned mould prints do not get overshadowed. Also, the delicate flour of the dough should not be masked.