Antwerpse Handjes

Antwerpse Handjes (Antwerp Hand Biscuits)

Buttery almond shortbread biscuits from Antwerp, shaped like outstretched hands in tribute to the legend of Silvius Brabo. Tender, sandy, and pale gold, they snap cleanly and melt on the tongue.

Prep

30 min

Cook

18 min

Total

48 min

Serves

About 24 biscuits

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •200 g (7 oz (1 cup)) unsalted butter, soft but not greasy, cool room temperature
• •150 g (¾ cup) caster sugar, fine baker's sugar; pulse granulated briefly if needed
• •2 large egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg for the glaze
• •200 g (1¾ cups) plain flour (all-purpose)
• •100 g (1 cup) ground almonds (almond meal), blanched for the palest, most traditional crumb
• •1 tsp ground cinnamon, Mild Ceylon or mild cassia
• •fine sea salt, ½
• •1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract, vanilla sugar is most traditional in Belgian baking

Steps

1. 1 In a mixing bowl, cream the soft butter with the caster sugar until pale and just fluffy; do not whip air into it or the biscuits will spread. Beat in the 2 egg yolks, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until smooth.
2. 2 Add the flour and ground almonds together; tip into the bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or your hands until the dough just comes together into a soft, slightly tacky mass. If sticky, chill for 15 minutes.
3. 3 Turn the dough out between two large sheets of parchment paper and roll to an even 5 mm (about 3/16 inch) thickness. Slide onto a tray and chill for at least 1 hour, or until firm; well-chilled dough holds the hand shape cleanly.
4. 4 Heat the oven to 160 °C / 320 °F (fan 140 °C / 285 °F). Line two baking sheets with parchment.
5. 5 Beat the whole egg with a fork to make an egg wash. Dip a hand-shaped cutter (about 8–10 cm / 3–4 in tall) in flour, shake off the excess, and cut out hands, pressing straight down without twisting.
6. 6 Lift the cut-outs with a thin palette knife onto the prepared sheets, spacing them about 3 cm / 1¼ in apart. Reroll scraps once and chill briefly before re-cutting.
7. 7 Brush each biscuit lightly with the egg wash, taking care not to let wash pool at the edges (pooling causes browning at the base).
8. 8 Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for 16–18 minutes, rotating the tray once at the halfway point. The biscuits are done when the edges are a pale, even gold and the tops feel set and dry to the touch; they should not darken, as traditional Antwerpse handjes are pale, not browned.
9. 9 Let cool on the tray for 5 minutes (they firm up as they cool), then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a tin at room temperature for up to 2 weeks; they improve after a day as the almond flavor mellows.