Skip to content

Cookies for Santa

Since he knows everything, Santa must know my love for cookies! So, this year, I sent him a special request, asking if I could ride along with him, sampling the wide array of cookies that children around the world leave him.
SONY DSC
Leaving cookies behind on Christmas Eve? Remember


Since he knows everything, Santa must know my love for cookies! So, this year, I sent him a special request, asking if I could ride along with him, sampling the wide array of cookies that children around the world leave him.

Offering cookies to Santa Claus is a long-standing tradition throughout the world where Christmas is celebrated. The legend began in Germany when Christmas trees were decorated with popcorn, cranberries and cookies. The children noticed that while mysterious gifts were left behind, there were decorations off the tree that were nibbled on. Though adults rationalized that the nibbling was done by mice, the kids knew better.

After hearing stories from other families about how much Santa enjoyed their cookies, more and more families began leaving a sweet treat for Santa. Over time, fewer and fewer people decorated the tree with food but the tradition of leaving something for Santa Claus continued.

So what cookies is Santa eating during his long journey? At my house, Santa is partial to the freshly baked homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Truth be known, I had thought the chocolate chip was what children all over set out for Santa. Surprisingly, according to Food Network’s Christmas Cookie special, in North America, Oreos are by far the most popular cookie left out for St. Nick on Christmas Eve.

In other corners of the world, Santa is offered a variety of cookies that are unique and full of the country’s traditions.

While in Greece, Santa will surely be offered kourabiedes, a crescent shaped butter cookies. These resemble the light and airy shortbread, but are typically made with the addition of almonds or almond flavouring. In some regions the Christmas kourabiedes are adorned with a single whole spice clove embedded in each biscuit. A clove is placed on top of each cookie as a reminder of the spices carried by the wise men.

Legend has it these buttery shortbreads were crescent-shaped during the Turkish occupation of Greece, in respect to the Turkish flag. After Greece regained independence from Turkey, people in many parts of the country began shaping these cookies into balls or little pears.

Santa will eat a similar butter cookie as he travels through countries like Ukraine (Russian Tea cakes), Mexico (Mexican Wedding Cake cookie) and Austria (Vanilla Kipferl).

Another Austrian favourite is the Linzer cookie. Named after its city of origin, Linzer cookies employ the same recipe as the Linzer torte but instead the dough is cut into cookies and two of them form a sandwich around the preserves. Moreover, the top cookie has a small cut out in its center (known as Linzer eyes), thus exposing the underlying jam and adding to the visual appeal. While the traditional cut out is circular, all sorts of shapes, such as bells, Christmas trees, and snowmen are also popular.

Long before there was sugar, monks in the monastery kitchens near Nürnberg, Germany, baked lebkuchen cookies from honey that was brought to them by beekeepers. Today, Nürnberger Lebkuchen or honey cookies are still made around the holidays.

While in Italy, Santa will be greeted with biscotti, the official dunking cookie or maybe even some fig cookies called cuccidati. This Sicilian holiday cookie has dried fruit, nuts wrapped up in a butter-dough pastry.

Gingerbread cookies — pierniczki — have a long history in Poland dating to the Middle Ages when the crusaders brought spices back to Europe.

Polish honey-spice cookies are not shaped like little men. Instead, they are usually heart-shaped and dipped in chocolate. Some have a fruit filling.

Liberties are taken these days and, along with the traditional kind, you will find brightly coloured pierniczki throughout Poland.

Finally, in Holland, “Santa” arrives earlier than other parts of world. Here, St. Nicholas or Sinterklaas visits the children on Dec. 5, accompanied by his faithful helper Black Peter. The duo distributes pepernoten and mixture of hard candies to the children by throwing them through the door or filling their shoe.

Pepernoten is a hard gingerbread like cookie which translates to pepper nuts in German, Danish and Dutch. The name describes the spicy taste as well as the fact that many recipes call for a small amount of pepper

Well, as I was finishing this article, I was informed by the elves that I will not be able to accompany Santa. With all the presents that he has to carry, there is no room for me on his sleigh.

However, as a consolation here are some cookie recipes that Santa sent me.

Dutch Pepernoten

50 g butter (1 3/4 oz)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tablespoon milk

1 cup self raising flour

Speculaas spices

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground aniseed

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Cream the butter and sugar, then add speculaas spice mix. Add the flour and milk and make very small marble sized balls. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 160 C (320 F) until golden.

Greek Kourabiedes

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar for rolling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Blend in the flour to form a dough.

You may have to knead by hand at the end. Take about a teaspoon of dough at a time and roll. Pull the ends together to form a crescent. Place cookies 1 to 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

You can poke a whole clove in centre of the cookie. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned and firm. Allow cookies to cool completely before dusting with confectioners’ sugar or dipping in chocolate

Linzer Cookies

2/3 cup pecans

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 12-oz jar seedless raspberry jam

Pulse pecans and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely ground. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add nut mixture and beat until combined well. Beat in egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

With floured hands, form dough into 2 balls and flatten each into a 5-inch disk. Chill disks, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 2 hours.

Put oven racks in middle and preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out 1 disk of dough into an 11-inch round (1/8 inch thick) between 2 sheets of wax paper (keep remaining dough chilled). If dough becomes too soft to roll out, rewrap in plastic and chill until firm. Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with larger cookie cutter and transfer to 2 ungreased large baking sheets, arranging about 1 inch apart. Using smaller cutters, cut out centers from half of the cookies, reserving centers and rerolling along with scraps (reroll only once).

Bake cookies, until edges are golden, 10 to 15 minutes total, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely.

Spread about one teaspoon jam on flat side of one solid cookie and sandwich jam with flat side of one windowed cookie.

Madhu Badoni is a Red Deer-based freelance food writer. She can be reached at madhubadoni@gmail.com. Watch for Madhu’s Masala-Mix blog on www.reddeeradvocate.com.