what is cookie butter

Cookie butter is a creamy spread made primarily from finely ground speculoos cookies, which are spiced Belgian cookies with flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and caramelized sugar. It looks similar to nut butter but tastes like gingerbread with a rich, deep caramel and spiced cookie flavor. It is commonly used in European countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, and France as an alternative to nut butters and chocolate spreads. People use cookie butter on toast, waffles, as a dip for fruits or crackers, in baked goods, as a frosting for cakes, or melted as a drizzle over ice cream. It can also be eaten straight from the jar. The spread is made by pulverizing speculoos cookies and mixing them with fat (such as vegetable oil, butter, or condensed milk), sugar, and sometimes other flavorings until smooth and spreadable. Cookie butter became widely popular through a Belgian TV show invention contest in 2007 and has since become a beloved product worldwide, with well-known brands like Lotus Biscoff and Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter bringing it to markets outside Europe. In summary, cookie butter is a sweet, spiced, spreadable paste made from speculoos cookies that can be used like nut butter in many culinary ways, providing a unique gingerbread-like treat.