The Christmas Cookie: Exploring the Roles and Recipes of Gingerbread

MMuch like eggnog and candy canes, gingerbread is a well-established Christmas treat enjoyed by many who celebrate the holiday around the world, and even plenty of people who don’t. It is consumed in a remarkable variety of ways, ranging from houses to figurines.

What they all have in common is a basic mixture of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and something sweet such as honey, sugar, or molasses. But this is only the modern form of the treat, if you could call it that. Recipes have been based upon this mixture since medieval times when an Armenian monk called Gregory of Nicopolis is said to have taught it to the French.

In its past, gingerbread has been so popular that there were fairs dedicated to it. Even today it can be found in bakeries and supermarkets all year round in many countries. But it is now mostly known as a traditional Christmas food. This short guide will explain how that came to be, and how it is used to celebrate the holidays in several different countries.

Gingerbread as a Christmas treat

So, when exactly did Christmas gingerbread become a tradition? The answer is complicated. It seems to have emerged as a tradition in several European countries in a very short space of time, and it is not exactly clear who influenced who. It appears to have begun with France, before Poland picked it up, then Germany, Sweden, and the rest of the continent.

What is also not clear is why gingerbread and not another type of baked treat became an essential part of the festivities. A few theories have been proposed. The first is that gingerbread houses became popular, and then these were used as a way to decorate homes of the Christmas period. Some believe this practice inspired the Brothers Grimm to write Hansel and Gretel, while others believed the popularity of gingerbread houses was a result of the brothers’ tale.

Another theory is that their popularity at an early type of Christmas market found across Europe led to the association. These ‘December Markets’ began in medieval times. The elaborately shaped and decorated gingerbread cookies being sold there were so popular that they started being sold at ‘gingerbread fairs’ in other months. Savvy sellers changed the decorations to fit the season. For December, presumably, they were themes around Christmas.

Popular Christmas treats which use gingerbread

Gingerbread is one of the most widely consumed winter bread and bakery products, but the form it takes is surprisingly varied depending on the country where it is consumed. These are just some of the mouthwatering examples. Recipes can easily be found online if you’d like to try and bake these yourself!

Gingersnaps (or ginger nuts): These are crunchy, crumbly biscuits and often come shaped as a man or a Christmas tree. Icing is usually used to add details on top. It is believed that the tradition of shaping gingerbread into people started with Queen Elizabeth I, who served gingerbread men to visitors. During her reign, spices such as ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg were expensive, so gingerbread was a treat the wealthy could use to show off. She also had a famously sweet tooth.
Lebkuchen: These soft German treats can still be found at traditional Christmas markets. They are sweetened with honey, unlike English gingerbread which uses molasses, and they often have more spices added to them than other countries add to theirs. These can include aniseed, coriander, and cardamom.
Pernik: Festive Czech gingerbread snacks are quite similar to the English ones, although the shapes are different. Stars and animals are common themes.
Pepperkakor: It is no surprise that the gentle heat of the spices found in gingerbread is popular in the chilly Baltic and Scandinavian countries in the north of Europe too. Swedish pepperkakor is a thin and crunchy type of gingerbread that is often used to decorate windows for Christmas.
Gingerbread houses: One gingerbread creation that is popular in many countries is the gingerbread house. Hard gingerbread, with dough that is sometimes boiled to make it stronger, is used to create the basic structure of a building which is then decorated with candies and icing. In many countries’ traditions, they are used to decorate homes during the festive period and eaten once it is over.
Lekach: Gingerbread is not only eaten in December to celebrate the Christian holiday of Christmas. Lekach is a type of cake which is baked and eaten to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. It is most similar to German lebkuchen, as it is sweetened with honey and often contains a large number of spices.

The delicious mixture of spices found in gingerbread provides a gentle heat which has made it a popular snack in winter months since medieval times. There are many recipes to choose from which expand on the basic ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg mixture. You could even invent your own.