How do you make homemade kruidnoten?

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (conventional/top-and-bottom heat). A lower temperature makes the kruidnoten bake more slowly and become truly crunchy without colouring too quickly.
2. Put the flour, speculaas spices, baking powder and the pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl and stir briefly so everything is evenly distributed.
3. Add the softened butter and the dark brown sugar to the dry ingredients. Rub the butter into the mixture with your fingers until you get a crumbly dough. That gives the kruidnoten their crisp, crunchy bite.
4. Add the milk tablespoon by tablespoon and knead the dough into a smooth, non-sticky ball. Don't use more milk than necessary: too wet a dough will give you soft kruidnoten instead of crunchy ones.
5. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes in the fridge. This firms up the dough and makes it easier to shape, and the flavours meld better.
6. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll small balls about 1 cm in diameter. Optionally weigh a few at 3 to 4 grams each so they bake evenly in the oven.
7. Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave about 2 cm between them, as they spread slightly during baking.
8. Bake the kruidnoten for 18 to 20 minutes in the middle of the oven. They are done when they are light brown and feel firm. They will harden further as they cool, so remove them from the oven in time.
9. Let the kruidnoten cool completely on a rack before storing them in a tin or jar. Straight from the oven they taste wonderfully soft, but after cooling you get that characteristic crunchy bite.