We all have our typical Christmas candy: anything chocolate, candy canes, gingerbread man, marshmallow snowmen and caramel filled Christmas trees. The Dutch are different. Sinterklaas brings them something completely different: kruidnoten.
Kruidnoten (pronounced crude-note-n) could be described as small gingerbread cookies. During the Sinterklaas period you’ll see them everywhere. The tradition is to throw them around so the kids have to find the candy. The throwing of the kruidnoten is an old symbol for fertility: the farmer who sprinkles his land with seeds.
Anyway, kruidnoten are very tasty and really easy to make, so why not try yourself? Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
- 250 g self-raising flour
- 125 g dark brown sugar
- 100 g soft butter
- 2 tablespoons kruidnoot spice*
- 3 tablespoons milk
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 150°C.
- Butter the baking dish.
- Sieve the flour into a bowl and make a little dimple in the middle.
- Put the sugar, butter and kruidnoot spice*, some salt and the milk in the bowl and mix it all together.
- Knead the dough. The kneading is complete when the dough is no longer sticky and the surface is smooth.
- Now make little balls of the dough and put them on the baking dish.
- Pop the baking dish in the preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes.
*The kruidnoot spice
Kruidnoot spice is a special mixture of spices. To make a fair amount of kruidnoot spice, use this recipe:
Ingredients:
- 30 g cinnamon
- 10 g cloves
- 10 g nutmeg
- 5 g white pepper
- 5 g aniseed
- 5 g coriander seeds
Directions:
Put all the spices in a bowl and mix them together. Store it in a well-sealable container.
~ By Steffi Posthumus
Global Xmas 