These spiced cookies, called Kruidnoten, are typical of the period before Christmas in the Netherlands. They are made or bought during the Sinterklaas festivities.
The legend says that Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas for us) lives in Spain and on November 14 he arrives in the Netherlands with his ship full of presents for children, accompanied by his many helpers called Piet. Sinterklaas comes to the Netherlands to celebrate his birthday on December 5, and during those days many Sinterklaas and countless Piets roam around handing out candies and typical sweets, among which the very popular Kruidnoten!
The flavor of these crunchy vegan spiced cookies comes from speculaaskruiden: a spice mix that is easy to find in any Dutch grocery store. This blend is very similar to the Pain d’épices spices used for spiced bread. In any case, it’s also very easy to make at home, and crushing the spices in a mortar will release an aromatic Christmas scent!
Fancy more cookies? Here are some others:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very affordable
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 40 cookies
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas, Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 3/4 + 1 cup + tbsp all-purpose flour (about 100 g)
- pinch baking powder (for cakes)
- 3 1/2 tbsp light butter (40% fat)
- 1/4 cup whole cane sugar (about 50 g)
- 2 tbsp unsweetened plant milk
- 1 tbsp speculaaskruiden (a spice mix you can make as explained below)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cardamom (ground)
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp ground star anise (ground, optional)
- 1 tsp ground coriander (optional)
- Points: 2 cookies = 1 WW point
Tools
- Planetary mixer
- Sieve
- Parchment paper
- Cooling rack
Preparation
If you use whole spices, grind them with a mortar or a spice grinder and then pass them through a sieve. Mix very well and store in an airtight container in a dark pantry.
By hand or with a stand mixer (use the hook) mix the butter cut into pieces and the sugar until creamy. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and one tablespoon of speculaaskruiden and add everything to the bowl with the butter-sugar cream. Add the milk and work until you get a soft but compact dough.
Form 40 small balls and slightly flatten the base so you have small hemispheres. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as you go. Preheat the convection oven to 347°F (a bit higher for a conventional/static oven) and put the tray in the center of the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the spiced cookies start to brown on top. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool: as they cool the cookies will develop the typical crunchy texture that distinguishes them.
Here are a couple cut open to show the crumb… but watch your diet: a handful is fine but be careful because they are addictive!
Here are our ready spiced cookies… what a wonderful aroma they leave in the house, they’re worth making just for that!
At Christmas time they are pretty and aromatic to offer or to use for filling little gift bags or hanging on the tree. They are also a good snack idea for children and tasty to nibble all year round! Above is a collage of photos from my readers whom I thank for their collaboration!
Here’s how I used the dough to create spiced cookies to hang on the Christmas tree — cute, right? This recipe is great to do with children: you can make many extra cookies and the kids will have fun shaping all these sweet “little balls”…
And as they say in Dutch to indicate something tasty: lekker!
by Giovanna Buono
Storage
You can store these cookies for a few days in a cookie tin.
