History
As St. Nicholas is one of the most popular saints, it is no surprise that there are a myriad of traditions that accompany him and his day on December 6th.
Likely stemming from his association with children and the legends surrounding his generosity, the tradition of giving presents on St. Nicholas Day can be traced back as early as the Middle Ages. Many churches welcomed these sorts of observances, as it is considered to be a genuine Christian act to give to others joyously and generously and celebrate the gift that children are to God’s people and his Church. Thus, on the evening before Nicholas’s day, it became customary for children to put out their shoes in front of the fire for Nicholas, who was said to visit while they slept in order to distribute sweets, nuts, and trinkets.
In a similar vein, when the feast of St. Nicholas and his traditions were celebrated in Flanders and the Netherlands, they eventually evolved to include him traveling by white horse and dropping gifts down the chimney to land in the children’s shoes. In a gesture of good faith, children would put carrots, turnips, or lumps of sugar in their shoes for his horse. Incidentally, it is from the Dutch diminutive that we get Sinterklaas (Sant Nikolaas).
St. Nicholas was also said to be accompanied by a servant known in German as Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus and in Dutch as Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), who would spank those who were not deserving of Nicholas’s gift-giving. This part of the St. Nicholas tradition likely stemmed from the combination of his story with Nordic folktales of Odin, who punished the naughty and rewarded the well-behaved.
When the Dutch began to arrive in the New World, the name of Sinterklaas changed once more, becoming ‘Santa Claus.’ Throughout the following centuries, the standardization of American culture and the popularity of Clement Clark Moore’s poem A Visit from St. Nicholas became two of the most prominent explanations for why this saint’s commemoration merged with other traditions in the United States. Popular culture eventually settled on a somewhat of a consensus understanding of St. Nicholas in the mid-1800s, which included the reindeer, letters, the North Pole, and the iconic red and white uniform that many think of in association with him today.
St. Nicholas Sweets
No matter what part of the St. Nicholas lineage you focus on, you will find that sweets and candy have always been part of his day. In fact, the origin of candy canes even lies with St. Nicholas, as their shape mimics the bishop’s crosier.
The recipe that we chose to share with you today is for St. Nicholas Dutch Speculaas Spice Cookies! Historically served on the eve of St. Nicholas’s Day, speculaas have been baked in Belgium and the Netherlands ever since the seventeenth century.
Some of the spices that are commonly used in speculaas include cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom, and white pepper, which grew in popularity during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries due to the Dutch East Indies spice trade.
Appearing in many shapes and sizes, speculaas often have some sort of image baked on them. These pictures vary greatly but often depict either St. Nicholas himself or some other wintery print. This makes sense when you consider that the word “speculaas” comes from the Latin word “speculum,” meaning “mirror.”
We hope that whether you choose to make this recipe or another one to celebrate this saint’s day, you will take the chance to ponder the influence that St. Nicholas had on medieval Christian and modern secular culture. Additionally, if you are looking to collect other ideas for Advent sweets, we encourage you to visit the St. Nicholas Center’s website to browse how others have commemorated St. Nicholas of Lycia.
St. Nicholas Speculaas Recipe
Ingredients
1 stick of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
pinch of cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the egg and mix until incorporated.
- Next, add in the baking powder and spices and beat for one additional minute.
- Sift in the flour, starting with ½ cup and gradually adding in the rest. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness on a floured surface.
- Press your cookie mold or cutter into the dough to form cookies and transfer them to a greased baking dish.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges just start to brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from tray.
St. Nicholas Speculaas
Ingredients
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 C brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- pinch of cloves
- pinch of nutmeg
- 1 ½ C all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the egg and mix until incorporated.
- Next, add in the baking powder and spices and beat for one additional minute.
- Sift in the flour, starting with ½ cup and gradually adding in the rest. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Roll out the dough to ¼ inch thickness on a floured surface.
- Press your cookie mold or cutter into the dough to form cookies and transfer them to a greased baking dish.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges just start to brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from tray.
References:
1. Weedon, William. Celebrating the Saints. Concordia Publishing House. 2016.
2. Newland, Mary Reed. The Year and Our Children: Planning the Family Activities for the Church Year. Image Books. 1956.
Was the dough supposed to be refrigerated first? One cup of flour did not result in cookies that could be rolled out. Once baked they spread completely into a giant flat cookie. 😬 The flavor is delicious though.
Tara, thank you for your feedback! We have now amended the recipe – you are right that it was supposed to call for 1 ½ cup flour and it can be chilled before rolling. I apologize for the error!
I think this recipe needs altering. My children and I followed the instructions exactly, and the dough came out way too soft to roll out. We had to add extra flour. My first instinct was to chill the dough, but the recipe didn’t say the dough needed chilling so we went ahead and rolled and baked immediately. What a mistake! The dough spread like crazy and we can’t even make out the designs we stamped on the dough. My suggestion would be to add a flour range (1-1 1/4 cups), and to chill the dough prior to rolling out.
Amanda, we really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment and review. Upon further testing, you are right that there was a missing ½ cup of flour in the recipe. With the additional ½ cup, you can still chill to make it easier to work with, especially if using a mold, or continue if using a cookie cutter. This will depend, in part, upon environmental factors, too. Either way, we added that suggestion as well. Thank you so much for your feedback.