Speculoos Lava Cookies

This was when speculoos and lava was in the trend for cookies, and this was a fun yummy combo. First freeze the speculoos into tiny balls, then wrap them with speculoos cookie batter. Use different sized ice cream scoops for easy rolling, and I personally would weigh each cookie dough to ensure that it covers the speculoos evenly. Bake frozen – it’ll spread out nicely into these lava cookies that spill like a dream when warm!

 

Speculoos Lava Cookies
Makes 14 cookies
Speculoos Lava Cookies adapted from Cleobuttera

Cookies:

14 Speculoos/Lotus cookies, ground into fine crumbs (makes 1 cup, 4oz, 113g)
1 1/4 cups (5 1/4oz, 148g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (4oz, 113g) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/4 cup (2oz, 57g) creamy Biscoff cookie butter
1/2 cup (3 1/2oz, 100g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup (2 1/2oz, 73g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Speculooos Center:

14 tablespoons creamy Specullos cookie butter

Garnish:

4 Biscoff cookies, broken into small chunks

To prepare Speculoos Center:

Line a baking sheet or a large plate with parchment paper or silicone mat. Using a tablespoon size ice cream scoop or a round measuring tablespoon, scoop out 14 tablespoons of Biscoff cookie butter onto the prepared baking sheet. Freeze until solid, at least one hour or overnight.

To make the dough

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line 2 other baking sheets with silicon baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the Biscoff/Lotus cookie crumbs, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and Biscoff cookie butter together until smooth, creamy and ribbon-like; about 1 minute.

Add both sugars and beat together until lightened up in both texture and color and looks fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. With the mixer running of lowest speed, gradually add in the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.

To assemble and bake cookies

Using a (3 tablespoon capacity) ice cream scoop or spoon, divide the cookie dough into 14 equal balls.

Arrange dough balls, 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets, 7 dough balls per sheet. Using the back of a wooden spoon handle or your thumb, make a deep indentation into each dough ball.

Get the Biscoff scoops out of the freezer and working quickly, peel the frozen Biscoff scoops from the baking sheet and place them in the middle of the dough hallow. If you’re working in a warm kitchen, you might want to keep them in the freezer, taking only one by one as you work, to avoid them melting.

Gather the dough up over the Biscoff scoops to completely cover them, then roll them into balls. Press a few broken chunks of Biscoff/Lotus cookies onto the top of the dough for looks and an added pop of crunch. If desired, freeze the cookies for 2 hours or up to 1 month, as this will produce thicker cookies or bake right away; they’ll still turn just fine.

Bake cookies 1 sheet at a time until cookies are golden brown, flattened but still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still very soft (you’ll think they’re still raw) but no longer wet, 10 to 11 minutes. Set the timer to 9 minutes to check for doneness, then add 1 minute at a time if needed. Do NOT bake them until they feel done or they’ll end up hard instead of soft and chewy. The cookies will continue to cook from the residual heat of the baking sheets as they cool.

Transfer baking sheet to wire rack and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets, at least 15 minutes. The cookies’ Biscoff center will be lava-like and irresistibly ooze out exactly like the pictures above if eaten within an hour after baking. After they’ve cooled to room temperature, the Biscoff center will set and not ooze out, but will remain soft. Store in an airtight container to maintain their softness.

 

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