This (no-bake!) gluten free and keto speculoos cookie butter uses a few nifty tricks to yield the incomparable flavors right on your stove-top! i.e. No actual cookies required.
Gluten Free & Keto Speculoos Cookie Butter
Or Fat Bombs (!!)
Expect this gluten free and keto speculoos cookie butter to be deeply aromatic, beautifully spiced, and nice and creamy.
And (most importantly!), with no cookie baking required! Rather, you’ll be cooking everything on your stovetop to get those distinct speculoos flavors.
But while this recipe doesn’t require you to whip up a batch of our keto speculoos, you absolutely ought to!
The History
What many people don’t know, is that speculoos (or speculaas, as they’re known in the Netherlands where they’re originally from) were already being used in sandwiches years past. You see, it was common practice to sandwich the cookies between bread and butter. And by the time lunchtime came around, the cookies were starting to dissolve; turning them into a spread. So of course, a speculoos cookie butter had to be eventually commercialized… and the rest is history.
And it really is no surprise that this European spice cookie spread has gained a cult following in the US in recent years. It’s totally addictive, and this keto version is no exception.
Fun fact: Speculoos are traditionally made for the Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) holiday on the 5th and 6th of December in the Netherlands. But more and more are enjoyed year-round.
The Speculoos Spices
This keto speculoos cookie spread is dominantly cinnamon, with highlights of ginger and nutmeg (freshly ground preferably) and a touch of cardamom, white pepper and cloves.
Though actual spice blends vary from recipe to recipe, with some family recipes also adding touches of anise and allspice. After all, there’s a lot of tradition behind these rustic European cookies.
The Deets
As previously mentioned, you’ll be creating the distinct speculoos flavors in a saucepan (i.e. no baking required!). You’ll be toasting the almond flour until fragrant, then subsequently adding in the spices and the butter until you get a nice speculoos paste.
You can then blend it with a stick blender (or food processor) and leave it as a pure butter or add in some nice and creamy almond butter to soften it up (my preferred version!). Just note that the pure-butter version works great to blend with your coffee and make some bulletproof gingerbread lattes (!!).
While the added almond butter version is supreme as a spread and fat bombs. Now how much almond butter you add is up to you. I like a roughly 2:1 ratio of speculoos butter to almond butter (i.e. 20 tablespoons of speculoos to 10 of almond). But feel free to add it in to suit your taste buds.
The Sweetener
This recipe works best with xylitol or allulose (no aftertaste and no risk of crystallization). Erythritol works great too (particularly the Golden Lakanto), but there’s always a risk that it’ll re-crystalize… so I suggest you add it powdered at the very end (to avoid melting it and having it crystalize).
Also note that adding a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses adds that brown sugar kick (i.e. a tonne of umami!).
Keep in mind that blackstrap molasses is considered a low glycemic sugar. One teaspoon (7g) adds 5g net carbs, so just 0.2g net carbs a cookie (i.e. 1/4th the sugar of a strawberry!). But carbs aside, it’s also known to be a nutritional powerhouse rich in vital vitamins and minerals; such as iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin B6, and selenium.
Fun fact: Molasses contain high amounts of chromium, which has been studied to increase glucose tolerance levels.
But if it’s still not your thing, just leave it out. No biggie here at all!
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys!
(No-Bake!) Gluten Free, Paleo & Keto Speculoos Cookie Butter
Ingredients
- 160 g almond flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 155 g grass-fed unsalted butter or ghee
- 6-8 tablespoons powdered xylitol allulose or erythritol, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses optional
- 160 g almond butter as needed
Instructions
- Lightly toast almond flour in a saucepan over medium heat, until lightly golden and fragrant (2-4 minutes), tossing it about every so often to keep it from burning. Add in the six spices and continue toast it until fully golden and the spices become very aromatic, 2-4 minutes more.
- Add in the butter, sweetener, salt, molasses (optional) and mix until melted and incorporated. Taste for sweetness and salt, and season to taste. Turn the heat down to low and continue to cook for 20-25 minutes more until fully browned (and it tastes like speculoos!).
- Remove from heat, add in almond butter and blend until fully smooth with a stick blender. Alternatively, transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Transfer your keto speculoos cookie butter to a mason jar (or sealable container) and allow to cool completely before refrigerating. Alternatively, transfer to silicon molds and make fat bombs out of it. Keep refrigerated for a couple weeks and frozen for 3 months.
Hi! I’m so excited to try this!
I’m a vegan, can I use vegan butter instead?
hi Paola. Can you tell me how I can make this liquid I want to add it as a ganache on a keto cake.
Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour? If not, what can I use as a substitute since I am allergic to almonds. Also, the whole reason I want to make this is because I can’t use almond butter in recipes, and there isn’t almond butter in cookie butter, so what can I use instead? Or is the almond butter optional?
I’ve been missing cookie butter and am so excited to try this recipe! I know you posted the calories per serving, but how many servings does the recipe make in total? Whether thats in grams or tablespoons (whatever is easier), thanks!
Hi Paola!
I love this decadent flavor! I first discovered it in Germany in Speculoos Christmas Cookies and later on Alaska Airlines and Costco as Biscoff cookies. Then I discovered Trader Joes’ Cookie Butter. I think I put on 10 lbs eating it! Then I had to swear off of all versions until now! I am so thrilled to have a version that I can eat again! You are the BEST!
Question: I had some trouble with the result being too dry. I thought I simply over cooked it not having a temperature to shoot for with a candy thermometer. Then I realized that the measurements are not the same for Almond Flour or Almond Butter on the two iterations. One of them must have a typo. I was using the metric with my kitchen scale so I’m guessing the metric needs to be updated.
1 2/3 cup almond flour
2/3 cup almond butter as needed
160 g almond flour
160 g almond butter as needed
I get you Nance! Speculoos will forever me one of my favorite flavors, takes me straight to my childhood!
Regarding your question, the weight is correct actually. Think about it, a cup of almond butter weighs a lot more than one of almond flour (so if you do the math, 1 cup of almond flour is 96g and of almond butter its 240g) xo and thank you for the heads up! (I’ve been known to get a few things wrong at times and you guys are the best copy editors :-S!)
Thanks, it does make sense! I won’t cook the next batch as long… yum, I’m making it tonight!
Mine didn’t come out smooth. Can this be turned into cookies?
Hi Paola! I love your recipes. I make the waffles every week for my diabetic daughter. We even make sandwiches out of them for her to take to schoolWe love the donuts and the 15 minute pizza dough as well. Thank you so much for what you’re doing! My question is whether anyone has substituted coconut oil for the butter. Dairy hurts our tummies😟.
Thank you Sarah, how wonderful to hear!! Coconut oil isn’t any good, but have you considered lard? I know it sounds weird, but one of you guys recommended it for the snickerdoodle recipe and I’ve been doing some experimenting and it seems to work the charm (reducing the amount by 20%)… you do miss out on a bit of the taste, but so far I’ve noticed its a good sub! Once I know exactly how it works, I’ll be sure to write a post about it 😉
Hello! Thank you for this recipe! MY QUESTION: For the sweetener, could I use Swerve “Brown Sugar” Granular? It’s almost identical to regular brown sugar. Thank you!
Yup! Just follow the tips of the erythritol 😉 xo!
Honestly don’t know how you do it Paola!! Tastes just like cookie butter wooooow!! you must be a genius lol!! It’s so good that the boyfriend didn’t believe I made it until I showed him your recipe 😂
😂!! it surprised me as well that it worked so well tbh!
I’m making this right now! How long is it good for in the fridge?
A couple weeks in the fridge xo!
could I use rice flour instead of almond flour?
(I’m allergic to nuts).
I would use a gluten free flour mix instead Shira (not grain free or keto)- so rice based, but balanced out with tapioca etc xo!
I love this recipe, its going to be my go to fat bomb, thank you so much for this, its a lifesaver. I’ve tried a lot of fat bombs and hated how ‘oily’ they taste but this was delicious. Its a must try for anyone doing keto.
Hi Ruchi that’s awesome to hear! Thank you! Check out the cookie dough fat bombs too, I’m fairly certain you’ll love those too 😉
I had the same problem with my stick blender. I transfer it to my food processor and it blended and looked like your pictures. I never had this before and wanted to make a sweet treat that did not have any chocolate for my husband. The batter tasted good. I am waiting for the final product which half is in the freezer and the other is in a jar in the refrigerator. Thanks for the insight regarding stick blender. I now know what the problem is as this has happen with other recipes. I love your recipes.
I can’t have almonds. Is there another flour that might substitute well?
Hi Kelli! I hear a lot from readers who can’t use almond that both sunflower seed flour and pumpkin seed flour work very well instead of almond (similar fat content etc so they can be subbed 1-1). I believe in some instances you can get a green hue with one of the two flours, but in all honesty I can’t remember! xo
I used my stick blender to cream the mix (including almond butter), and while the flavor was fantastic, it remained grainy. I will admit – I was disappointed to waste expensive ingredients on something that would not spread like I wanted. I poured it all in a mason jar and stuck it in the fridge. This morning I dug in with a spoon and WOW! Just like speculaas cookies! Next time I will pour tablespoonfuls into an ice tray to get the cookie shape too. The “graininess” now just reminds me of the crunchy bits in cookie butter. Love it. Satisfies my craving for windmill cookies.
I can’t say for sure why yours was grainy (maybe blend a little longer? your stick blender not as sharp anymore?), but glad you loved the taste! xo
One step says to add cream, but there’s no cream in the ingredients list. How much should be added, if any?
Hi Betsy, it is not cream as in the ingredient but cream as in the verb. 😉 xo Paola
Oh, duh! Thank you!!!
We made these over the weekend too and they’re SO GOOD! Tastes JUST like the speculoos cookie butter from Trader Joes!!
Your food photography is EVERYTHING!! Thank you for such wonderful recipes and inspiring posts!