What Is Biscoff?
Biscoff is the caramelized, cinnamon-spiced biscuit made by the Belgian company Lotus, most famous in the US as the cookie handed out on Delta and other airlines, and later expanded into a spreadable "cookie butter" version. The name is short for "biscuit" and "coffee" — it was originally marketed as a treat to pair with a cup of coffee, and the flavor is often compared to gingerbread or speculoos spice cookies, without the ginger.
The lineup now covers the original crunchy cookies, a cookie butter spread in both creamy and crunchy versions, and a growing list of Biscoff-flavored products from other brands — ice cream, protein bars, cheesecakes — riding on the original cookie's popularity. This review focuses on the two core products: the original Biscoff cookie and the cookie butter spread.
The Company Behind It
Lotus Bakeries has been baking speculoos-style biscuits in Belgium since the 1930s, and the caramelized cookie recipe traces back even further to traditional Dutch and Belgian speculaas spice cookies typically baked around Saint Nicholas Day. Biscoff itself is Lotus's branded, year-round version of that tradition, built for global grocery distribution rather than a seasonal treat. The brand's partnership with airlines — most famously Delta in the US — is largely responsible for how many Americans first encountered the cookie, which is part of why it built a cult following before cookie butter spread even existed as a product category.
That history matters for the vegan question specifically: because speculoos-style biscuits were never traditionally made with butter or eggs in the way many Western cookies are, Biscoff's vegan status isn't a modern reformulation or a marketing pivot chasing a trend — it's closer to an accident of a centuries-old regional recipe that happened to not use dairy.
Ingredients
The original Biscoff cookie's ingredient list is short and doesn't hide much:
Wheat Flour, Sugar, Vegetable Oils (soybean, sunflower, canola, and/or palm oil), Brown Sugar Syrup, Sodium Bicarbonate, Soy Flour, Salt, Cinnamon.
The cookie butter spread builds directly on that same cookie base: Biscoff cookies (as above), Canola Oil, Sugar, Soy Lecithin, Citric Acid. The creamy and crunchy versions use essentially the same ingredients — crunchy just leaves small cookie pieces intact rather than blending everything smooth.
What stands out is what's absent. There's no butter, no milk powder, no egg, and no honey — all common in caramelized or spiced cookie recipes elsewhere. The "caramelized" flavor and color come from the brown sugar syrup and the baking process itself, not from a dairy-based caramel. That's the whole reason Biscoff has developed a reputation as an "accidentally vegan" product: it wasn't formulated to be a vegan cookie, it just happens to be one because the traditional Belgian speculoos recipe never called for dairy or eggs in the first place.
Is Biscoff Vegan?
Yes, original Biscoff cookies and cookie butter are vegan. Lotus states directly on its own site that the products are "vegan friendly," and the ingredient list backs that up — no milk, eggs, honey, or other animal-derived ingredients appear in either the cookies or the spread.
There are two caveats worth knowing before assuming every Biscoff-branded item on a shelf is safe. First, chocolate-coated Biscoff varieties are not vegan — the Belgian chocolate coating used on those specific products contains milk. Second, like most packaged cookies made in a shared facility, Biscoff carries a "may contain traces of" allergen warning covering milk, egg, and other allergens due to cross-contamination risk, not because those ingredients are in the recipe. Strict vegans who avoid any trace cross-contamination should weigh that warning; most people who eat vegan for dietary or general ethical reasons treat trace-warning language differently from an actual listed ingredient, but it's worth knowing the distinction exists rather than assuming a completely allergen-siloed factory.
As always, don't assume every spinoff or collaboration product carries the same formula — a "Biscoff-flavored" item made by a different company (an ice cream, a protein bar, a baked good) is a completely separate ingredient list, and needs its own check. Run any specific product through the spvegan.com ingredient checker before assuming the Biscoff name guarantees vegan status on something Lotus didn't make itself.
Nutrition Facts Comparison
Here's how Biscoff's cookie butter spread compares to Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter, the most common alternative shoppers cross-shop against it, per roughly 1-2 tablespoon serving:
| Product | Serving | Calories | Total Fat | Sat. Fat | Sugar | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biscoff Cookie Butter (Creamy) | 2 tbsp (30g) | 170 | 11g | 2.5g | 11g | 1g |
| Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter | 1 tbsp (~17g) | 90 | 6g | 1.5g | 5g | 0.5g |
Normalized to a similar per-gram basis, the two products land in a similar range — cookie butter is, by nature, a sugar-and-oil-forward spread closer to a dessert topping than an everyday pantry staple, whichever brand it comes from. Neither is a significant source of protein, and both list added sugar as one of the top ingredients by weight. This isn't a "healthy alternative" category; the appeal is flavor and nostalgia, not nutrition.
Biscoff vs. Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter
Here's where the two actually diverge, beyond the numbers:
| Lotus Biscoff | Trader Joe's Speculoos | |
|---|---|---|
| Vegan labeling | Explicitly marketed "vegan friendly" | Not labeled vegan by the retailer |
| Core ingredients | Wheat, sugar, vegetable oils, soy flour, cinnamon | Very similar recipe, near-identical base |
| Availability | Grocery, airlines, Amazon, Lotus retail | Trader Joe's stores only |
| Texture options | Creamy or Crunchy | Creamy (varies by product line) |
The two products taste close enough that side-by-side taste tests regularly come out split by personal preference rather than a clear winner. The bigger practical difference for vegan shoppers is confidence: Lotus puts "vegan friendly" directly on its own marketing, while Trader Joe's does not apply that label to its version — likely a conservative call tied to shared-facility allergen risk rather than an actual animal ingredient in the recipe, but it means Biscoff is the easier one to point to with confidence if that label matters to you.
Taste and Texture
The original Biscoff cookie is dense, dry, and deeply caramelized, with a snap that holds up well for dunking without falling apart — part of why it became the go-to airline coffee cookie in the first place. The cinnamon-spice flavor is warm rather than sharp, closer to gingerbread than to a cinnamon-heavy snickerdoodle.
The cookie butter spread translates that flavor into something closer to a less-sweet, spiced peanut butter in texture — thick, a little grainy from the ground cookie base, and much more pourable when gently warmed. The crunchy version keeps small flecks of actual cookie throughout, which gives it a texture edge over the smooth version if the goal is replicating the eating experience of the original cookie rather than just the flavor. It spreads well on toast, works as a dip for apple slices, and is a common baking swap-in anywhere a recipe calls for peanut butter or a spiced filling.
Who Should Buy Biscoff?
Biscoff is a solid pick for anyone looking for a vegan cookie or spread that doesn't taste like it's compensating for missing dairy or eggs — because the original recipe never needed them, there's no "vegan version" flavor gap to notice. It's a reasonable everyday treat for people who like warm, spiced flavors and don't need a health-food angle from their cookie butter. It's not the pick for anyone strictly avoiding cross-contamination traces of milk or egg, and the chocolate-coated varieties should be skipped entirely by anyone avoiding dairy, since those do contain milk.
Price and Where to Buy
Biscoff cookies and cookie butter are widely stocked in the US at major grocery chains, big-box retailers like Target and Walmart, and through Amazon, in addition to being handed out on select airline flights. The cookies typically come in multi-packs or family-size boxes, while the cookie butter spread is sold in jars ranging from single-serving sizes up to large 25+ ounce jars for households that go through it quickly. As with most specialty spreads, it tends to cost a bit more per ounce than a mainstream peanut butter or jam, though it's usually priced in line with other name-brand nut and seed butter spreads rather than at a premium "gourmet" tier. Exact pricing varies by retailer, so checking a specific store listing is the most reliable way to compare.
How to Use Biscoff Cookie Butter
Beyond the obvious toast-and-spoon uses, Biscoff cookie butter shows up constantly in vegan baking as a swap for peanut butter or as a flavor base in its own right — blended into vegan cheesecake fillings, swirled into banana bread batter, used as a filling between two cookies, or thinned with a little plant milk to make a drizzle for oatmeal or pancakes. Because it firms up in the fridge and softens at room temperature or with light warming, it behaves a lot like natural peanut butter in recipes: stir before using if any oil has separated on top, and warm it briefly if a pourable consistency is needed. The crunchy version holds its texture reasonably well when baked into things like blondies, while the creamy version blends more seamlessly into batters and fillings where a smooth result matters.
Final Verdict
Biscoff earns its "accidentally vegan" reputation honestly — the classic cookies and cookie butter spread are vegan by recipe, not by reformulation, and Lotus backs that up with its own "vegan friendly" labeling. The caveats are narrow and easy to manage: skip the chocolate-coated versions, and know that trace cross-contamination warnings exist like they do on most packaged cookies. For flavor, texture, and reliability as a genuinely vegan treat, it's one of the easier "yes" answers in the snack aisle.
Rating: 8/10
