Cory FernandezAssociate Food Editor
Cory is a New York City–based associate editor at The Kitchn, who covers food trends, lifestyle, wine, liquor, spirits, food-related travel, and food features. Before working at The Kitchn, he worked as an editor at Food Network Magazine and was a contributor to The Pioneer Woman Magazine. Cory also occasionally develops recipes, tests products, and contributes SEO content for The Kitchn.
updated Sep 22, 2023
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While many of us try our best to wait for fall to arrive before reveling in all of the holiday foods and festivities, sometimes it’s just a challenge. In other words, it’s perfectly normal to start stocking up on seasonal favorites like cookie butter long before autumnal weather takes over. The important question: What is cookie butter exactly and how is it made?
In This Article
- What Is Cookie Butter?
- What Is the Flavor of Cookie Butter?
- Where Can You Buy Cookie Butter?
Quick Overview
What Is Cookie Butter?
Cookie butter is a dessert spread made from Belgian spiced cookies called speculoos. The spread is typically made by blending speculoos cookies with cane sugar, and various types of vegetable oil and flour. Speculoos cookies themselves are flavored with ground cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, mace, cardamom, white pepper, and anise seeds. It’s believed that the name speculoos derives from the Latin word “speculum” meaning mirror, which may refer to molds used to imprint designs on the surface of the cookies.
If you’re a regular shopper at stores like Trader Joe’s, then you know all about cookie butter. That said, though, you may not know everything about cookie butter or what it’s made of. Cookie butter, which is also commonly known as speculoos spread, is a dessert spread that originated in Belgium and was largely popularized by brands like Biscoff and Trader Joe’s.
Biscoff is widely known for its iconic, oval-shaped cookies, which come in a sleeve of red and white packaging and are commonly served to passengers on flights as an on-board snack. The cookie company, however, is also largely associated with its cookie butter spread, which is made from the cookies, along with a few other ingredients.
What Is Cookie Butter?
Cookie butter is a spread made from blending Belgian speculoos cookies, vegetable oil, cane sugar, and flour. The spread (and the cookies from which it is made) is known for its heavily spiced flavor, which comes from a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, clove, anise seed, ginger, white pepper, and cardamom. The name speculoos is believed to come from the Latin word speculum, which means mirror — this may refer to the fact that the designs on the cookies reflect the molds used to make them, according to Culture Trip.
In the United States, many of the flavors in cookie butter are largely associated with fall and winter holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, so this is why many people choose to make desserts with cookie butter around this time, though the product is available year-round.
What Is the Flavor of Cookie Butter?
The main flavors in cookie butter come from the various, fragrant spices used to make the cookies that are then blended to make the spread. Some additional ingredients may be added to the spread, but the main flavors come from a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, clove, anise seed, ginger, white pepper, and cardamom.
Where Can You Buy Cookie Butter?
As mentioned above, you can buy cookie butter at just about any Trader Joe’s store. You can also buy Biscoff’s cookie butter at various grocery store chains like Target, Walmart, Stop and Shop, and Costco. Otherwise, you can also order cookie butter via Amazon as well.
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