Speculoos (Biscoff) Gooey Butter Cake

How many of you like, no I mean love, windmill cookies?  You know what I'm talking about right?  The brown spicy cookies shaped like a windmill that we all ate as children (probably as adults too).  Well, I LOVE windmill cookies and always have.  Not only is the shape intriguing, but so is the awesome gingerbready, spicy taste.  Yum yum.  Windmill Cookies are called Speculoos cookies in the Netherlands.  Amazing what a little research will tell you.

My daughter and her family were living in Dallas and she kept asking me if I had ever had Biscoff or Nutella.  I couldn't figure out what the heck Biscoff was nor Nutella.  No, I had never had it.  She told me it was a spread somewhat like peanut butter.  I am not a big peanut butter fan (unAmerican, I know), so I don't usually look at the nut spreads at the grocery store.  She kept insisting that I needed to try them both.  Well, one day I gave in and purchased some Nutella thinking we would try and figure out what all the fuss was about.  Helloooooooo, maybe best stuff ever.  That is until I bought some Speculoos Cookie Butter (aka Biscoff spread).  Holeeeeeeeee Moly, this stuff is downright sinful, dangerous and beyond delicious.

Nutella is chocolate and hazelnut spread.  It's wonderful.  Speculoos Cookie Butter, which is sold exclusively at Trader Joe's and is a product of the Netherlands,  is ground up windmill cookies (called Speculoos) and mixed with a myriad of oils to make it the most deliciously spreadable concoction on the face of the earth.  What genius thought this up?  If you don't have a Trader Joe's, look for Biscoff.  (The label says it is "a deliciously unusual spread reminiscent of gingerbread and made with crushed biscuits").  Okay, works for me.  On the side of the jar it says "All you have to do is taste it to understand!"  Now THAT is the understatement of the century.  It says you can spread it on pancakes or waffles, peanut butter and cookies, sandwiches, serve on ice cream, dip pretzels or celery in it.  What don't you do with something this delicious?"  Good question.  You could put this on just about anything and make it taste even better, just eat it by the spoonful or make this gooey butter cake that is 1. amazing, 2. amazing, and 3. amazing.  Get the point?

If you have never had gooey butter cake, get to the grocery as fast as you can and get all the ingredients it takes and make one immediately.  Yeah, it's that good and that's just plain gooey butter bake.  I have made Paula Deen's pumpkin gooey butter cake and Plain Chicken.com's Nutella gooey butter cake  (recipes on my blog) and they are out of this world.  But, Plain Chicken's Speculoos (Biscoff) gooey butter cake is to the moon and beyond.  Here is what you need:

Crust

1 14.5 oz yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 Tbsp. butter, melted


Filling

1 8 oz. package cream cheese softened
1 cup Speculoos Cookie Butter (Biscoff)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
8 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 1 pound box, powdered sugar (that is 3.5 generous cups)

Mix the yellow cake mix with 1 egg and 8 Tbsps melted butter.  Press in the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan.  Set aside.

Make the filling by beating the softened cream cheese and Speculoos Cookie Butter (Biscoff) until smooth.  Add the 3 eggs, vanilla and melted butter.  Mix thoroughly.  Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix until it is all incorporated.

Pour the filling over the crust mix in the 9x13 pan and do everything within your power not to eat it before you bake it.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.  The very center should still be a little "unset".  It will continue to bake when you remove it from the oven.  Let cool, cut into squares and serve.  Listen to the raves and requests for more (that's if you don't eat it all yourself)!

I am sitting here noshing on a little square and drinking a cup of coffee while I type this just so I can try and tell you how OH EM GEE good this is.  I wish you were here so I could share some of it with you.  It's worth the drive believe me (or at least a trip to the store).

The slightly gingerbreadish flavor of the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and whatever other flavors are in the Speculoos (windmill) cookies makes this gooey butter cake just about indescribable.  If you've had windmill cookies you know what I am talking about, only difference is this cake is creamy and spicy with a fabulous crust, not hard and crunchy like windmill cookies.  You owe it to yourself, your family and everyone you know to try this recipe.  I'm not kidding.  They will all thank you.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Childhood memory.  My mom always liked Fig Newtons (ugh) but sometimes we could talk her into Windmill Cookies.  That was a happy day.  Who knew somewhere down the road they would become the most delicious spread ever made?    donna