Windless Windmill Cookies

My name is Erin (Dekker) Raatjes and I’m Dutch. I like windmill cookies. I work for a company that has its roots in the Dutch church. There you go… my admission. Recently we went to a fundraiser for our parent company at a museum downtown. At the door, on your way out, they had hot cocoa and windmill cookies! As a good Dutchwomen, I enjoy a good windmill cookie. When Andy went to get a few, they were a hoax! Imposters! They were sugar cookies masquerading as windmill cookies. Now that room of 875 was highly saturated with Dutch people… I’m sure they all passed by those cookies with a scoff. That got me thinking about windmill cookies… so I found a recipe from a friend in Iowa… where the real Dutch live. :) Made up a batch. Mmmm spicy and wonderful. Sure, they aren’t in a windmill shape… but at least they taste better than those silly sugar cookies did. I made them into little hockey pucks since I’m a lazy cookie maker. :) I don’t really like rolling the dough out and attempting to make shapes… so… freeform windless cookies. Yum.

Speculaas or Dutch Windmill Cookies

What you need!
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cups sliced almonds, plus more for topping, if desired

Make it!
Combine the flour, baking soda, all the spices and the salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter, vanilla, and both sugars, until light and fluffy.
Add the beaten eggs and blend well.
Add the dry ingredients. Stir in the almonds.
Divide the dough into four and form each one into a disk. Wrap each section in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
When ready to bake, allow the dough to warm up a bit so you can roll it out. Roll to about 1/4 inch thickness, cut.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 min.