The Gingerbread to Gingerbread Cookie Pipeline
The gingerbread cookie has an endless amount of fun involved in it. Very rarely can you find a dessert that you decorate with friends, can make a house out of, and even make to look like you and your entire family! But there are multitudes to this dessert that are quite shocking when you hear about them for the first time. From cannibalistic rituals to teaching kids the alphabet, gingerbread really has seen all facets of humanity in its evolution to become a fun little cookie. So, strap on in, and let’s explore how the role of this ancient dessert has evolved through the years, and maybe even find a new favourite ginger-flavoured dessert along the way!
The Gingerbread Cookie Around the World
As much as some modern cultures may associate gingerbread with the iconic house or cookie, it’s actually descended from an ancient cake known today as the honey cake. We call it that, but it was more of a spice cake than one to be intentionally flavoured with honey. It was just sweetened with the most common sweetener at the time, which was honey. This cake is so old, there’s evidence of it going all the way back to Ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece. Naturally, it made its way to many parts of the world and created many different traditional ginger-spiced desserts. Let’s take a look at some now!
Nuremberg gingerbread cookie is a traditional Christmas treat
Lebkuchen is one of the earliest forms of gingerbread that’s still made to this day, as it goes all the way back to the late thirteenth century in Nuremburg. Because of this, it’s similar to many modern-day honey cakes and actually is still sweetened with honey. It’s difficult to say where the exact origin of the name comes from, but one thing we can be sure of is that in German, “kuchen” means cake. And this is one delicious cake. Linguists theorize that “leb” can refer to a few things, including loaf, crystallized honey, and even life. The texture of Lebkuchen is a bit different than the classic cookie and house versions in that it’s fluffier; somewhere between a cookie and a cake. Another aspect that makes this version unique is that it has many nuts in it; usually walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, or even marzipan.
German traditional Gingerbread hearts at a Beer Fest
Lebkuchenherz (“herz” meaning “heart”) is a popular Lebkuchen variety that’s in the shape of a heart and is the size of a plate. It’s often found at German Christmas markets with words and sentiments on them meant for the recipient.
Swedish Pepparkakor cookies (The View From Great Island)
This dessert translates to – you guessed it – pepper cakes! Even though it has “pepper” in the name, the cookies never had any pepper in their spice mix. Apparently, “peppering food up” once meant to spice it. It’s become a bit trendy in the past few years in Norway to add pepper to Pepperkaker recipes, for both loving and sassy reasons. These cookies tend to be thinner and crispier than many of the European versions of the gingerbread cookie. But they are similar in that they’re cut into festive shapes and decorated with candy, sprinkles, and icing sugar. Norway has full-on towns that pay homage to their favourite Christmas dessert. There are many of these miniature towns throughout the country, but one of the largest in the world is in Bergen. It’s filled with Pepperkaker of people, animals, and even trees. What a way to celebrate these cookies!
A colourful heart-shaped decorated gingerbread cookie from Toruń
The name of this version of these cookies comes from the town in which it evolved from the honey cake in the thirteenth century. Toruń is a historical city in Poland that actually now houses an iconic gingerbread museum. We talk further about the tradition of these museums in our gingerbread house blog, but this one in Toruń dates back to the eighteenth century. Molds still exist to this day as historical artifacts that would’ve been used to make cookies with the likeness of Polish royalty and religious figures. The most popular mold that was adapted and still used now is the katarzynka, or the Katherine, which is six medallions linked together. The intricate detail of these cookies is remarkable and they’ve evolved through the years to become a hugely loved and respected export of the town.
Swiss gingerbread Biberli (Shirley’s Kitchen)
The biber cookie dates back to the fourteenth century in the Canton Appenzell in East Switzerland. It’s made of the classic honey and spiced dough, but in this version, it encases ground nuts. Usually, these nuts are almond, so the cookie is known for having marzipan inside. Biber cookies are made using wooden molds with beautifully depicted symbols, religious figures, or scenes of weddings and festivals. There is a smaller version of the biber known as the biberli, which is also very popular in Switzerland.
Brazilian gingerbread Pão de Mel cookies
Usually in a square or round shape, Pão de Mel has a decadent take. Its dough is based on the original honey cake, but once it’s baked, it gets filled with dulce de leche and then covered in chocolate. The original reason for covering the squares in chocolate was to keep the taste of the dulce de leche and spiced cake moist and tasting strong for longer. But you really can’t go wrong when you cover things in chocolate. Although the dulce de leche is the traditional ingredient, you can get a variety of fillings including mole, coconut, passion fruit curd, Nutella, and melted guava paste. You can also get different chocolate layers like any classic type of chocolate, caramel, or marshmallow.
Czech Christmas gingerbread cookies (Mission Food Adventure)
Gingerbread entered the Czech Republic through Germany in the Middle Ages, around 1335 AD. It arrived in the form of a ginger-spiced Bundt cake. If you’re curious about the fascinating history of how this circular cake was present in Medieval Europe, we have a blog all about Bundt cakes you can check out. This original ginger cake was called “Pernik,” but nowadays the word has evolved to mostly refer to cookies. The art of gingerbread is taken very seriously in the Czech Republic, and Prague has a museum dedicated to it as well. Similar to Germany, these cookies are staples in Christmas markets around the country and are seen as works of edible art.
Russian Pryaniki cookies with swirls of icing at a market
Russia has a rich history of spice cookies that can be traced to the ninth century. A version of them was given the name “pryanosti” in the twelveth and thirteenth centuries when the spice trade was booming, which meant “well-spiced.” The word “pryanik” actually comes from an old Slavic word that meant “pepper,” even though (similar to Norwegian pepperkaker) the traditional recipes never included pepper as an ingredient. Recipes developed in families and were held as tight-knit secrets and passed down. Wooden stamps were used to create images in the cookies, which were then decorated with berries and jam. This type of baking art developed into the city of Tula’s version, Tula pryanik. The Tula pryanik are two layers of cookie joined by a thin layer of jam and stamped with elaborate designs of words, symbols, and patterns. Russia also has a culture of respect towards the art of Pryanik, and has museums dedicated to it as well.
Greek Melomakarona traditional Christmas cookies
We’ll explore why a Greek version of this cookie is of such interest when we get into the history of the gingerbread cookie as a whole. But for the time being, the Melomakarona is another honey-sweetened cookie that’s synonymous with Christmas time in Greece. “Meli” means “honey” in Greek, and “makaria” means blessed, which nods to the ancient use of the honey cake in Greek ritual. These cookies are moist and fluffy, having been soaked in syrup, and are made with crushed walnuts and orange along with their spice mix. Some people even like to describe Melomakarona as a mix between a cookie and a baklava.
Pig-shaped Marranitos cookies (Chicano Eats)
These cookies are sweetened with molasses and piloncillo (or cane sugar) and are known as cochinitos de piloncillo, puerquitos, or gingerbread pigs. Traditionally, these cookies didn’t actually have ginger in them, despite the name. However, there are varieties that have developed through the years to mix in ginger, anise, and cinnamon. Marranitos were likely invented in Veracruz in the sixteenth century during early colonization by Spain when bread was introduced to Huastecan cuisine. They are a classic pan dulce, or sweet bread, and another of these ginger desserts that has a texture somewhere between cake and a cookie.
Slavic spiced honey cookies (Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary)
The translation of Medivnychky into English is “little honey cake,” and these treats are some of the least sweet versions of the ginger spice cookies we’re looking at today. Sometimes called St. Nicholas cookies, they’re usually cut into festive shapes and nowadays decorated with icing sugar. The taste and accentuated honey taste in these cookies have been theorized to have stemmed from the prominence of bee-keeping as a traditional folk craft in Ukraine. Another aspect that makes these cookies unique is that they have cognac in them, pecans, and star anise and coriander in the spice mix.
Croatian Licitar Cookies (Chasing the donkey)
Croatia has another cookie that didn’t traditionally contain any ginger at all. In the sixteenth century, receiving licitars was more sentimental than receiving a bouquet of roses in Croatia. The chefs who made the desserts were known as Medičari (a name of a profession), and were well-respected in society due to their craftsmanship. Licitars are made in a variety of shapes with intricate decoration and varying levels of edibility. Although they’re not a religious symbol, they have a close history with the St Mary of Bistrica pilgrimage for the Assumption or St Margaret’s Day simply for being sold nearby. They became a popular souvenir for people to commemorate their time with.
Ginger snaps are popular around the world
The difference between cookies and snaps is mostly in texture. The two cookies have the same origin story, but snaps are just baked longer, thus the crunch. Ginger snaps are also almost always round little treats to dip in hot drinks, whereas a lot of the joy of the ginger cookie comes from all the shapes it can come in. It’s difficult to say exactly where the snaps reached their final form, but nowadays, they’re enjoyed around the world. In South Africa, they’re known as ginger biscuits. In the UK, they’re known as gingernuts and are highly popular to dunk in tea. In New Zealand, gingernuts are the most sold biscuit in the country.
Gingerbread figurine for Christmas
All over the world, it’s become a very popular Christmas tradition to cut out little creatures from spiced dough, bake them, and then decorate them with sprinkles, candies, and icing. The most famous story of the early gingerbread-shaped person comes from the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England in the late sixteenth century. At the time, society coveted specifically designated gingerbread artisans, and the Queen requested her personal artisan make cookies in the shape of her guests. It is suggested that this tradition of food shaped like a person might’ve been inspired by an Ancient Roman tradition, but it certainly caught on when Queen Elizabeth resurrected it.
There are many names for the classic gingerbread cookie. In Romania for instance, they’re known as turtă dulce. Germany has another version of their ginger dessert called Pfeffernusse which only exists in drop cookie form. Other countries have different cookies that may include ginger, such as the Armenian gurabia, and the Bulgarian and Karakolian medenka cookie. Many countries use various springerle-type molds, similar to the Toruń cookies concept, such as the Dutch Windmill cookies, also known as Speculaas (spekuloos in Belgium and spekulatius in Germany). And with the popularity of this dessert, especially in history and at Christmas time, you can pretty much find it around the world nowadays, but in different shapes and flavoures.
Gingerbread Cookie Origins and History
The history of ginger-spiced dessert is one that’s embedded in the ritual nature of mankind. The first example of this was the evidence we mentioned earlier of the great granddessert, honey cake, as far back as 2400 BCE. At this time in Egypt, honey cake (as well as written documentation of it), was found in pharaoh’s tombs.
Bees in Temple of Karnak, showing the significance of honey in Ancient Egyptian culture
Later in 180 BCE, one of the first recorded recipes of humanity, the Enkhytoi honey cake, was recorded in Greece. At these times, honey cake was used in ceremonies, as people believed honey was a gift from their gods. The cakes were also gifted and worn in battle to protect the soldier.
Ancient Rome has an especially interesting relationship with the history of gingerbread. The Ancient Roman celebration of Saturnalia was celebrated around December 17th and is theorised to be one of the roots of modern-day Christmas traditions. The festivities were developed to pay homage to the Roman God, Saturn, who was their God of agriculture, time, and renewal. The festivities began with a sacrifice at the temple and moved on to gift-giving, caroling, and carnival-like debauchery and fun. There’s a bit of mystery around what exactly was sacrificed, however. Although some interpretations have been criticised as simplifying a complex society, some historians insist the sacrifice was human in the form of gladiator events. Whether it was human, animal, or otherwise, the sacrifice evolved at a certain point into effigies and masks, and eventually, the celebrants were encouraged to eat cookies shaped like people. And it was these cookies that have been traced as the precursor to our beloved gingerbread men treats!
The Evolving Role of Gingerbread
After the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD, ginger became incredibly scarce, especially in Europe. Our little dessert went quiet for a while but eventually came back with a bang. Although there’s proof of the Saturnalia cookies and ginger being a popular ingredient in Rome, there wasn’t a concrete instance of someone making gingerbread until 992 AD. Gregory Makar (or Gregory of Nicopolis as he is better known) was an Armenian monk and later saint who fled Pontus (modern-day Anatolia, Turkey) looking for religious safety. He lived as a hermit in Gâtinais, France, and shared his cooking and baking with his neighbours. Judging by its historical success, his heavenly Byzantine-inspired and honey-sweetened ginger cake was probably the biggest hit of all the recipes he shared.
Once the spice trade picked back up in the 13th century, recipes for ginger-flavoured desserts began spreading around Europe. For the first while, the recipes were held as religiously exclusive on account of the scarcity of ginger spice. The dessert was used for many purposes, including digestive help and as comfort for ailing people. Many monks also used the recipe to create little saint cookies that they used for educational purposes, making them look like the saints or the religious figures they were talking about. They would also use them to make less expensive versions of hornbooks, which were medieval alphabet teaching tablets.
A casting and mold of a cookie hornbook (Cotsen Children’s Library)
Although gingerbread had always been an integral part of rituals and customs throughout the history of humanity, it fell out of public favour around the seventeenth century. Gingerbread had been used to create saint cookies. And in a period of religious struggle between Protestants and Catholics, gingerbread figurines actually became illegal in Holland to block the spread of the popularity of Catholic saints and the superstitious beliefs associated with them. Around the same time, Gingerbread also became deeply associated with witchcraft. The practice of eating gingerbread in the shape of men to fall in love, rabbits to increase fertility, and hearts to ward off evil spirits slowly evolved from being a quaint superstition to being seen as full-on witchcraft. “Witches” apparently created effigies out of gingerbread to enact spells on and even kill their enemies.
French Saint Nicholas gingerbread cookies (196 Flavors)
The first to re-embrace ginger desserts were royal families that were able to afford these luxury goods at gatherings. This period was when the idea of a chef who specialized in the art of gingerbread appeared (and where we get the story of Elizabeth and her gingerbread court all decorated in gold leaves). Many gingerbread insults actually came to popular use around this time period. Using gingerbread as a figure of speech had used to insinuate that something was fancy, but it came to imply deceit and cowardice instead. The expression “to take the gilt off gingerbread” exemplifies this feeling that underneath even the most stunning and expensive gingerbread man decorations, you can be a vacant or even malicious person.
The next natural step for the accessibility of this dessert was when the spice trade became more plentiful, and the general public was finally allowed access to it. The practice of eating them to acquire something like love, abundance, or health gave the cookies a reputation of being ritualistic again, associated with protection and charms. Although this began as a positive attitude toward superstition, it evolved around the beginning of the seventeenth century to be seen as dark magic used by witches. This was the gingerbread climate when the Brothers Grimm drew on its negative press to use in Hansel and Gretel. Thankfully, an open embrace of the spookiness was exactly what gingerbread needed to make a successful comeback. Just in time for when Christmas was becoming exceedingly popular and associated with giving.
Packing gingerbread cookies in a gift box for donation
Gingerbread for Wellness in our Society
Because of its deep roots in history and Christmas, the gingerbread cookie has been used a lot as a logo and mascot for donation and volunteering efforts around the holidays. Cookie and house competitions like the ones put on in the past by Mutual Aid in Halifax, Habitat for Humanity in Victoria, and the Ronald McDonald Houses are engaging and effective ways to raise money for vulnerable members of communities around the holidays. Cookies in general are a great way to raise money, awareness, and donations as seen by the Caring With Cookies and even the Smile Cookie Campaign from Tim Hortons.
Volunteering and donating can be strained at any time of year. So many people have scheduling conflicts or time and financial commitments that make it difficult to get and stay committed to an organization. So, it’s a wonderful thing if you can find a way to carve out the time to invest in your community wellness. You can reach out to local food banks, houselessness shelters, and palliative care centres to see if they would benefit from any donated baking or time! Any day is a perfect time, but many people will use the Christmas holidays as an opportunity to make it a family affair. You can also do some research in your community to see if there are any initiatives near you that already exist.
Gingerbread Tiles with a Rum Butter Glaze (Epicurious)
There aren’t enough gingerbread cookie hornbooks in the world to record the history of this amazing dessert. And with all the wonderful ways it’s used to raise donations and awareness, clearly, its present form is pretty promising. If you’re looking to satisfy a craving, or maybe purchase some cookies to donate to a cause that’s near to your heart, you can use Dessert Advisor’s search tool to find gingerbread near you. Happy holidays and happy decorating!
