Updated 02.05.24
Kletskoppen is most likely a funny word to pronounce for most of you in the English speaking world; it is a funny word for a cookie to begin with. Let me translate it for you. A kletskop is somebody who talks a lot, a chatter box but then in a gossipy way. It also means a bold head or even something gross (an inflamed head). The latter two derive from old Dutch, Belgian and German language. An alternative, more appropriate name is Bruges lace cookie. Bruges as in a Belgian town; indeed known for its lace. These Dutch Kletskoppen Cookies are also similar to French Tuiles.
When you look at the picture, you’ll understand why it is called a lace cookie. Does not explain the kletskop term, unless ……………….. people enjoy the cookies, put their heads together and gossiping away.
Whatever the rationale or history of these Dutch Kletskoppen Cookies, they are simple to make, very crispy and delicious, especially when you’re a sweet tooth. They are like the sweet version of the Parmesan crisps.
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Peeled or blanched almonds – you can also use peanuts. Other nuts I have not tried.
- Light brown sugar – dark brown sugar will also work as well
- Butter
- Milk – you can also use water or coffee if you need a dairy free cookie.
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Flour
How to Make Dutch Kletskoppen Cookies
Step 1 – Peel or blanch almonds. Check out my post on how to do this. It is very simple and done in 5 minutes.
Then grind/chop the blanched almonds.
Step 2 – Mix butter, milk and sugar in a bowl.
Step 3 – Mix flour, cinnamon and salt and add this to the butter mixture. Followed by adding the ground almonds. Combine until blended and this is your final dough.
Step 4 – Transfer dough into a piping bag and pipe small balls of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper of a silicone mat. Place them far apart because they will flatten out completely.
Bake the kletskoppen in a 400 degrees F oven for approx. 10 minutes. This recipe yields about 15 cookies of about 3.5 inches.
Step 5 – Cool until they become a little harder and then move onto a wire rack to cool completely. I always place paper towels under the cookies while they cool down. That absorbs some of the butter.
Baked kletskoppen are usually irregular in shape, which is part of their charm. The variety of pieces of almond in each cookie determines the shape.
Tips and warnings
- Do not place the cookies too close together; they will merge and you’ll have one large cookie. I used a 18×13 baking dish and spaced the cookies evenly from each other and from the sides of the baking sheet and they were not running together.
- Do not walk away from your oven! Before you realize your cookies are done and burnt the next second. Once your batter ball flattened out (and that goes easy with the butter and sugar) you wait until you see the right color (beautifully golden brown). Take them out of the oven.
Enjoy!
Dutch Kletskoppen Cookies
Pin Recipe FacebookIngredients
- 30 grams butter, softened
- 100 grams light brown sugar (NOTE 1)
- 1.5 tablespoons milk (NOTE 2)
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 30 grams peeled almonds (NOTE 3)
- 50 grams all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use peeled almonds. I created a separate post how to do this. It is very simple and quick. (NOTE 4)
- Mix butter, sugar and milk in a bowl.
- Mix flour, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl.
- Transfer peeled almonds to a food processor and process until small particles. Don't grind it to dust. You can also chop it if you don't have a grinder or food processor.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture and add almonds next and mix until blended.
- Transfer dough into a piping bag and pipe small balls of dough onto the prepared baking dish. Place them far apart because they will flatten out completely. (NOTE 5)
- Bake the cookies 5-10 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking dish for a few minutes and when they become harder, transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Both light brown or dark brown sugar will work, obviously, the color of the cookies will differ.
- Use water or coffee instead of milk.
- You can also use peanuts if you prefer.
- How to peel or blanch almonds. Check out this ‘How To“
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried to make this, I’m pretty sure the flour ratio to liquids is wrong,
There is no way to pipe this according when you get to step 4
Hi Anne; Thank you so much for your comment. Indeed the flour quantity seems off. I have a feeling (and hope) it’s a typo, but need to re-do the recipe. Will have time to do that tomorrow and will comment back to you.
Anne; as promised, I re-baked the Dutch Kletskoppen and indeed, I made a typo in the recipe. The cups should be ounces. I think I can explain what happened. In my effort, to tailor to the American readers, I tried to convert my Dutch recipe (yes, I was born in The Netherlands) from grams to ounces, because somebody told me that most Americans don’t use scales in the kitchen, but tablespoons and cups. Little did I know at that time that for baking, weights in grams are also here the preferred method as it is more accurate. I am going to update the recipe on the website, but want to give you the correct weights in advance:
30 g butter
100 g light brown sugar
1.5 tbs milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
30 g almonds blanched/peeled
50 g flour
I want to thank you again for making me aware of my mistake.
Marinka