Crispy yet tender, these easy-to-make Biscoff Gingerbread Men are perfectly spiced with homemade speculaas and sweetened with golden syrup and everyone’s favourite cookie butter. They’re perfect for the festive season!
Soft in the centre and crispy in the edges, these Biscoff Gingerbread Men offer the best of both worlds. If you’re not a fan of traditional gingerbread biscuits or the heavy molasses flavour, these are the festive biscuits for you – homemade speculaas spice mix, Biscoff spread and golden syrup come together to lift the flavours of traditional gingerbread biscuits.
The best part is, they take just 8 minutes to bake in the oven! Once they’ve cooled, you can serve them plain or make them come alive by frosting them with homemade or store-bought royal icing.
Why you’ll Love this Biscoff Gingerbread Men Recipe
- More than just ginger. The flavour is all Christmas thanks to the speculaas spice mix, which makes it a bit more balanced than traditional gingerbread. The golden syrup brings a hint of sweetness that can sometimes be missing from molasses-based recipes.
- Texture. These Biscoff Gingerbread Men are perfectly crispy on the edges and still a little chewy in the centre.
- No spread dough. A little bit of chilling after handling the dough means these biscuits keep their shape nicely and don’t spread in the oven.
- Fun. If decorating is your thing, these gingerbread men are a perfect canvas!
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Speculaas – The Superior Gingerbread Men Spice
The addition of this spice mix instead of straight up ground ginger is this recipe’s secret weapon!
Speculaas, or speculoos, is a spice mix traditionally used to make speculaas biscuits – spiced, shortcrust biscuits that are slightly gingerbread-esque but a lot more crispy, and baked in November and December to celebrate St Nicholas’ Day and the holiday season. The biscuits are traditionally made using wooden moulds (speculaasplank) that leave an imprint on the biscuit dough, and come in popular shapes like Dutch windmills or St Nick himself.
Though nowadays, speculaas biscuits come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, including gingerbread men shapes!
The spice is made up of a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, cardamom and ground pepper, and is thought to have come about in the 17th century when spices were more affordable and therefore more widely available in the Netherlands thanks to the Dutch East India Company (learn more about nutmeg and why it was the cause of wars).
Biscoff Gingerbread Men Recipe Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make these charming festive biscuits:
- Butter. Using unsalted butter gives you better control of the salt and overall taste. Make sure your butter is at room temperature – but not melting – before you start.
- Biscoff spread. The popular cookie butter spread enhances the spiced flavour and gives these gingerbread men their soft, chewy centre.
- Dark brown sugar. I like to use dark brown sugar to add a deeper flavour that pairs perfectly with the speculaas spice, but you can substitute light brown sugar.
- Golden syrup. Golden syrup adds flavour and colour without leaving that bitter aftertaste you can get from molasses. You can substitute with honey, but not maple syrup, which is too thin for this recipe.
- Egg yolk. Helps to bind the dough together and make it easier to work with.
- Flour. All purpose flour is all you need.
- Speculass spice mix. You can buy speculass spice, but it’s just as easy to make your own and tailor it to your tastes. The combination of sweet warming spices makes these gingerbread men a special treat!
- Bicarb soda. Just a little to give everything a little lift. Leave it out and you’ll have crunchy biscuits.
- Sea salt. Because even sweets need a little salt.
Find the exact quantities in the recipe card below.
How to Make these Biscoff Gingerbread Men
These Biscoff Gingerbread Men are easy as can be to make! They just need a little chilling to make sure they keep their shape before baking. Here’s the quick rundown on how to make the recipe:
- Cream. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or hand-held electric beaters, cream the butter, Biscoff, sugar and egg yolk.
- Mix. Add the flour, speculaas spice, bicarb and salt and bring together into a dough.
- Chill. A little time in the fridge helps keep the butter in the dough from melting while you roll out and stamp out gingerbread men.
- Roll. Using two pieces of parchment paper, roll out the dough to 4mm thick. Keep the paper to line your baking trays.
- Cut. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. I use a mix of Gingerbread men, christmas trees, stars and cloud shapes.
- Chill and bake. Give them a quick chill out session and then bake in a 180C oven for 7-10 minutes depending on the size of your cookie cutters.
- Decorate. Serve them plain or decorate the gingerbread men using homemade or store-bought royal icing. Don’t forget to let the biscuits cool completely before icing them!
Looking for other festive treats? Try these recipes too:
- Speculaas Spice Mix
- Berry Cheesecake Star Bread
- Chocolate Bark with Caramel Corn
- Cooking Lexicon: Gingerbread
Have you made these Biscoff Gingerbread Men yet? Did you decorate them? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know. Or take a pic and tag me over on Instagram, I love seeing what you guys are making from the blog!
Biscoff Gingerbread Men
Ingredients
- 60 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 70 g Biscoff spread, smooth
- 50 g dark brown sugar
- 70 g golden syrup
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 225 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon speculaas spice mix
- ½ teaspoon bicarb soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or hand-held electric beaters, cream the butter, Biscoff spread, sugar and egg yolk together until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes.60 g unsalted butter, 70 g Biscoff spread, 50 g dark brown sugar, 70 g golden syrup, 1 egg yolk
- Add the flour, speculoos spice mix, bicarb soda and salt, and fold together using a spatula or wooden spoon.225 g all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon speculaas spice mix, ½ teaspoon bicarb soda, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Right in the mixing bowl, use your hands to bring it together into a dough. Shape into a disk, cover in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or overnight).
- Remove the dough and (gently) roll it out to 4mm thick between two pieces of parchment paper (save the parchment paper to line your baking trays). Use whatever cookie cutters you have to stamp out as many as many Biscoff Gingerbread Men as you can, placing the biscuits on parchment-lined baking trays.
- Bring the scraps of the dough together and roll it out again. Stamp out more biscuits, and repeat, until you’ve used up all the scraps.
- Chill the biscuits, tray and all, for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the biscuits into the oven and bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie cutters; larger biscuits will need a few more minutes. The Biscoff Gingerbread Men are ready when they’re golden brown on the edges. Allow to cool completely on the baking trays before decorating with royal icing.
