The sugar cookie was developed in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
The tradition of cutting out sugar cookies in various designs came after the invention of the cookie cutter in 1875.
No matter what cookies on are your “to-bake list,” chances are they were part of your childhood.
The holidays summon memories of standing on a stool in Grandma’s kitchen helping her roll out sugar cookies and making a mess when icing them. You might have memories of your mom stuffing cookie dough into a cookie press and shooting out tiny little Christmas trees that you gobbled in one bite after they baked. If you’re fortunate to have cookie recipes handed down in your family, then speculaas or pfeffernusse might be in your baking line-up.
No matter what cookies on are your “to-bake list,” chances are they were part of your childhood. If you bake, you’ve likely gifted these cookies to party hosts or set trays of them out at your own parties. Keeping cookie jars full this time of year is important, too, so your own kiddos have their own holiday cookie memories.
In all of your cookie baking and eating, have you ever thought about where these traditions come from? Spritz cookies, speculaas, and even traditional cutout cookies have rich histories and maybe even surprising histories.
Spritz cookies
Spritz cookies are a traditional Scandinavian Christmas cookie. The original name, spritzgebäck, refers to the German word spritzen which means "to squirt." This refers to the dough being pushed through a cookie press. It then “squirts” out through a specially shaped metal disc to form a shape. Dating to the 1500s, spritz cookies are often tree-, star- or wreath-shaped. These butter cookies can be colored and flavored in a variety of ways and decorated with sprinkles after baking.
Speculaas (or speculoos) cookies are a traditional Dutch treat baked for St. Nicholas Day. You can buy these from grocery stores in their common windmill shape, but the homemade version is easy to make and can be rolled and cut out with cookie cutters. If you have small cookie stamps, you can create something similar to the original 350-year-old cookie that was shaped using hand-carved wooden molds depicting the image of Saint Nicholas.
These cookies are flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom and white pepper. Their intense aroma fills the air with the smells of the holidays, and you may find these cookies decorating Christmas trees.
Sugar cookie cutouts
While many of our traditional holiday cookies have international origins, the sugar cookie was developed in Nazareth, Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s. Later known as the Nazareth cookie, the sugar cookie was created by Morovians (Protestant settlers from Germany). These first renditions were crumbly and buttery and different from the spiced cookies popular then.
The tradition of cutting out sugar cookies in various designs came after the invention of the cookie cutter in 1875. While the rest of the country calls these sweet treats “sugar” or “cutout” cookies, folks in Pennsylvania still have Nazareth Christmas Cookie Swaps during the holidays.
No matter what your own memories of holiday cookies are, our baking traditions are worth perpetuating or just starting anew. We hope these recipes inspire you to bake this holiday season, and to give a little box of sweet goodness to a few neighbors.
Niki Davis is the creator of Rooted in Foods food heritage blog and a regular contributor to The Southern Illinoisan's weekly Taste section. You can find her at www.rootedinfoods.com.
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November 18, 2020 at 06:00AM
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'Tis the season to start baking traditional holiday cookies - The Southern
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Butter Cookies
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