Ours come out crispy, but I wouldn't describe them as hard. More like a warmish pizelle then, say, a shortbread cookie. If you slice them thick they're a bit chewy.
I intend to try some other recipes for speculaas this Christmas, it looks like the recipe that was handed down to us isn't quite the traditional one. (Which makes sense as we're a German family, so I guess the recipe evolved a bit over time and distance.)
We're a little wary of the cookie mold thing, we never had much luck with them. How do you remove excess dough? I've heard you should use a sharp knife, but do you scrape it along the edges or cut around the mold? Are there any videos of best practices?