St. Hildegard of Bingen Cookies of Joy

History

St. Hildegard of Bingen dabbled in many areas of intellectual inquiry, always seeking to make different connections between her varied loves for religion, spirituality, science, nature, botany, nutrition, herbs, medicine, and music. In her Physica: Liber Simplicis Medicine as well as her Liber Divinorum Operum, the final text that she wrote, she especially focused on the ways that these subjects related to the holistic healing of the body. Part of this included her creation of different medieval recipes that she thought helped support the body in health and wellness.

When reading Hidegard’s works, you’ll find that she especially thought that a balanced and healthy diet should be at the heart of all culinary endeavors. In particular, there were a few ingredients that Hildegard seemed to love and hold in especially high esteem for their healing properties. These included honey, eggs, whole grains, and spices. While Hildegard didn’t theorize the benefits of these ingredients on her own, she did collect already known but disparate treatment methods from different sources, putting the information together for quick reference.

Cookies of Joy

You may enjoy knowing that one of her cookie recipes continues to be well known today! She wrote that she thought that eating these biscuits helped to slow the aging process, created a cheerful countenance, lightened a heavy heart, and released one’s full intellectual potential. “Eat them often,” she wrote. “They will calm every bitterness of your heart and mind—and your hearing and senses will open. Your mind will be joyous, your senses purified, and all harmful humors will diminish, making you efficient, strong, and happy.”

Called “cookies of joy” or “nerve cookies,” these treats are supposed to strengthen or heighten the working of the five senses. According to St. Hildegard, by eating these you were able to gain clearer vision, increase your hearing, and improve your sense of smell, taste, and touch. Because of their strong spice favor, they were supposed to help increase mental clarity and help cleanse the body of impurities.

Hildegard seems to be right on the money with her holistic medicine conjectures as even today nutmeg is well known for strengthening concentration and blood purification, cinnamon regulates blood sugar and stabilizes metabolism, and cloves are high in antioxidants and are energizing! Therefore, gladly join with St. Hildegard in consuming and singing the praises of this recipe. Your health might be better off for it!

Ingredients

½ cup softened butter

½ cup honey

1 egg (or use 1 Tbs. flax seed soaked in 3 Tbs. water)

2 cups whole wheat flour or spelt flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¾ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ cup ground almonds or almond flour.

Directions

1. Cream together butter, honey, and egg.
2. In separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients, grinding the almonds in a food processor until a fine texture.
3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
4. Pour liquid ingredients in well and mix into dry ingredients.
5. When well incorporated chill in refrigerator to cool and to make it easier to work with.
6. Form into walnut sized balls, carefully flatten with a cup, and place a whole almond on top to decorate.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.