Chocolate Chip Cookies are the best cookies, let’s be clear about this! It’s one of those recipes I make over and over again because it never fails to satisfy your sweet cravings and it can be easily updated every time with new toppings. Today, I am sharing a recipe for White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Speculoos Biscoff Cookie Butter.
First, I wanna talk about the key ingredient of these cookies: Speculoos (or Biscoff) spread or cookie butter.
What is Speculoos Biscoff Spread or Cookie Butter?
Speculaas or speculoos are spiced shortcrust biscuits traditionally baked to celebrate St Nicholas’ day in the Netherlands. These type of biscuits are popular in Belgium, Germany and nowadays they are increasingly well know in other European countries too.
A blend of fragrant spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, anise) is the secret to speculoos biscuits and the cookie spread. This is a product that launched in Europe and in the US about ten years ago and which I love to use in baking. It’s a flavourful cream of crushed biscuits (smooth or crunchy depending on your preference) to spread on toast, drizzle over oats or cakes, and mix in cookies dough.
For this chocolate chip cookies, I paired the speculoos cookie butter with white chocolate chips. I love these two flavours and I strongly believe that they pair beautifully together! Do you remember the Speculoos and White Chocolate Truffles I made for Christmas a few years ago?
Ravneet Gill’s Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies
There are hundreds of chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, but one of the best ones ever is found on The Pastry Chef’s Guide cookbook by Ravneet Gill. I made her cookies a few months ago, during the lockdown period, and OMG I was hooked! They are so so tasty!
These chocolate chip cookie recipe is all about the sugar. It is essential that you use brown sugar (I used dark muscovado sugar for an even richer cookie) and let the dough rest in the fridge overnight before baking the cookies. You mustn’t be too eager to get the cookies and skip this step!
And so, a few weeks ago, I picked up Ravneet’s cookbook and made the chocolate chip cookies again. This time, however, I adapted her recipe slightly. Instead of big dark chocolate chunks, I used small white chocolate chips. And then, I added my secret ingredient: a teaspoon of Speculoos spread cookie butter in the centre of the cookie dough ball.
The results are these cookies, which are slightly crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. Chewy on the inside and round the edges.
You have to try these cookies! They melt in your mouth, bringing together the rich caramelised flavours of the brown sugar, the delicate sweetness of white chocolate and finally the burst of spiced flavours of the speculoos biscuit cream!
Ingredients
- 140g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 130g dark muscovado sugar
- 120g white sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 250g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 140g white chocolate chips
- 14 tsp Speculoos (Biscoff) spread or cookie butter
Preparation
Cream together the butter and sugars, then add the egg.
In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients together including the salt. Add them to the butter/sugar mix using a sieve.
Mix it all together to make a smooth cookie dough, then stir the chocolate chips.
Using your hands, roll the dough into 14 balls of about 60 grams each. Place them on a tray lined with baking paper, cover with cling film and place in the fridge overnight (or in the freezer if you plan to bake the cookies in the future).
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan. Place the cookie dough balls on two trays lined with baking paper or silicone mats, spaced about 5cm from each other, as they will flatten during baking. Bake for exactly 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave in the trays to cool down completely before transferring them onto a plate or airtight container.
