Category Cheap ($1-$15)
Best For Sweet teeth, the friend who went to Europe last year and still talks about it

You already know Whidbey Island is where you go for mussels. Did you know it’s where you go for a Dutch treat (not that kind)?

On Front street in Coupeville is a store called A Touch of Dutch, established by a Netherlands transport and a nod to the ‘Landers that once settled in the area. It’s a wee place, and at the center are several towering bookshelves lined with all sorts of imported Dutch deliciousness: stroopwafels, oliebollen, salted licorice. Especially great are the speculaasbrokken.

These honkin’ cookies are bundled in threes and together weigh 14 ounces; one pack costs $4.95. They’re almost brittle and crumble with each bite, and the lingering spice of white pepper, nutmeg, and clove, not to mention the touch of ginger and cardamom, make the biscuits an ideal complement to a hot toddy.

While sipping that toddy with said friend, ask said friend about his/her trip. Because really, delicious as they be, the gift here isn’t the speculaasbrokken. It’s the memories they’re bound to trigger. Speculaasbrokken is basically Holland in a wrapper (note the windmills).

Said friend will love them.