pepernoot — Netherlands

Pepernoten are small, dense, spiced cookies associated with the Sinterklaas celebrations that run through late November and early December in the Netherlands and Belgium. Roughly the size of a large coin, they are chewy when fresh and harden gradually once exposed to the air, which is part of why they keep well in tins through the holiday season. They are reported throughout the Netherlands, where they are sold in supermarkets from early autumn onward and also baked at home, often by children helping to fill bowls for the Sinterklaas evening. The related German Pfeffernüsse share many of the same spices, and pepernoten are closely tied to another Dutch biscuit, taai-taai, which uses a similar base of rye flour and spice. The dough combines rye flour with brown sugar, milk and a mix of spices — cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, white pepper and ground aniseed are common — bound with a little butter and a leavening agent. It is rolled into small balls, left to rest so the spices infuse the dough, then baked at a moderate temperature until firm and lightly coloured, and left to cool and harden on the tray. Households and bakeries vary the mix of spices and the ratio of rye to wheat flour, which changes the biscuit from soft and cake-like to firm and crunchy. Some versions are coated in chocolate, while the plain spiced biscuit remains the one thrown by the handful across the room during the Sinterklaas evening so that children can search for it.