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Speculoos Cupcakes (using Biscoff or Lotus Biscuits)

November 9, 2012 by Sarah Trivuncic

This speculoos cupcakes recipe is to celebrate the recent arrival of Biscoff style speculoos spread in UK shops!

speculoos cupcakes recipe

Speculoos spread, once only sold in Europe is now available at Waitrose. Speculoos biscuits are spicy golden biscuits sold as Lotus biscuits in the UK. You may be familiar with them as the little oval biscuits in cellophane packs served with coffee.

Speculoos spread is a similar consistency to smooth peanut butter or Nutella – but with the added benefit for those with nut allergies of not containing nuts. In common with Nutella, fans of speculoos spread wax lyrical about eating it direct from the jar on a spoon.

To flavour the cupcake sponges I have used here koekkruidden, a Dutch spice mix that lends itself beautifully to baking, especially for a speculoos flavour. The Steenberg’s version of the blend is made up of ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom and aniseed.

If you cannot get hold of koekkruiden then use this list as a guide to blend your own mix. And if the staff in Waitrose don’t know what Speculoos spread is, try asking for ‘Lotus spread’ or ‘Lotus caramelised biscuit spread’. Take care however googling images of ‘lotus spread’ as I ended up discovering a rather racy minx with lacy knickers sprawled over the bonnet of a sports car (!)

steenbergs koekkruiden spice mix

Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Biscoff Cupcakes (Speculoos)

You will need 12 hole bun tins lined with paper cases
Prep Time20 minutes mins
Cook Time20 minutes mins
Total Time40 minutes mins
Servings: 12 standard size cupcakes
Author: Sarah Trivuncic

Ingredients

  • 125 g butter softened
  • 125 g caster sugar (superfine baking sugar)
  • 2 large eggs lightly beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp koekkruidden spice powder available from Steenbergs
  • 125 g self-raising flour sifted
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 4-6 speculoos or Lotus biscuits sliced into shards/chunks.

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180c/ Gas 4.
  • Using an electric mixer with a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Next beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
  • Fold in the flour a third at a time until just combined. Fold in the milk taking care not to over mix.
  • Evenly spoon the batter into cases, two thirds full.
  • Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until a cocktail stick will come out clean.
  • Leave the cakes in the tins for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
  • Decorate using my speculoos buttercream recipe.
    and shards of speculoos biscuits.

 

Clarification: This is not a sponsored or a review post. I bought my own speculoos spread on holiday in France.

speculoos cupcakes with speculoos spread

You’ll be needing the recipe for my Biscoff Speculoos Buttercream, here is the link here…

Speculoos Buttercream (with Biscoff or Lotus biscuit spread)

For an alternative use of Biscoff in a dessert try also my Orange Syllabub with Biscuit Base and Lemon Quark Cheesecake Pots.

Orange Syllabub with Biscoff Base

Or Quark Lemon Cheesecake with Biscoff.

Quark Lemon Cheesecake with Biscoff

Filed Under: Baking and Desserts

About Sarah Trivuncic

Sarah Trivuncic has published recipes, restaurant and travel reviews on Maison Cupcake since 2009. She lives in Walthamstow, East London with her husband and teenager.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rosa Mayland says

    November 9, 2012 at 7:50 am

    Oh, I love that paste! What gorgeous cupcakes. So droolworthy.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  2. Jacqueline says

    November 9, 2012 at 5:46 pm

    Beautiful cakes and photos Sarah 🙂

  3. Laura@howtocookgoodfood says

    November 9, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    I bought my very first jar a couple of weeks ago from the Richmond Waitrose and was delighted to see it being stocked here along with the crunchy version which I must try out next. My kids adore it so i know they will love these cupcakes as will I !! xx

  4. Chris says

    November 10, 2012 at 6:51 am

    They look lovely. Just the other day I ate speculoos spread for the first time and now I made my own with speculos biscuits in the blender.

  5. Homemade by Fleur says

    November 10, 2012 at 7:21 am

    I have got myself a jar recently too and I add it it to everything at the moment. It’s great on crumpets and in porridge. wonderful idea for using it in a cupcake. Do you know where that spice mix can be brought either online or in a shop? It’s just my sort of thing especially with the aniseed. X

  6. laythetable says

    November 10, 2012 at 8:07 pm

    I’ve been addicted to speculoos spread for a while but hadn’t though to make cupcakes with it, defo need to give them a try. Haha at the googling!

  7. thelittleloaf says

    November 20, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    These look and sound AMAZING. Fellow blogger Giulia brought me some speculoos back from Belgium before you could buy it many places in the UK so I’m very excited that it’s now available in Waitrose 🙂 Love the combination of spices too – might have a go at making that mix myself.

  8. Cupcake Ideas says

    February 2, 2013 at 4:44 am

    This is way too delicious, i have to add it to my blog if you dont mind 🙂

  9. Danielle Vedmore says

    June 25, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    Have heard alot about this spread – seriously need one!

  10. Rose says

    February 2, 2025 at 6:59 pm

    5 stars
    Yes I love Biscoff so had to have a go at these. Wonderful

  11. Rose says

    February 9, 2025 at 2:19 pm

    5 stars
    Anything with speculoos is great. Enjoyed these very much

5 from 2 votes

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I’m Sarah, a recipe writer sharing thrifty everyday dinners with a touch of French inspiration. I founded Maison Cupcake in 2009 and love creating dishes that are affordable, comforting and achievable. Thanks for visiting!

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