As soon as the days get shorter and the first Sinterklaas songs are heard, they appear again in every supermarket: pepernoten. Or… are they actually kruidnoten? Many people confuse the two. In this blog we dive into the history of pepernoten, explain the difference between pepernoten and kruidnoten, and share a delicious recipe to bake kruidnoten yourself.

Help yourself to a handful while you read on with appetite.

The origin of pepernoten

Pepernoten are small, chewy cookies about the size of a large marble. Originally they were square and resembled pieces of ontbijtkoek in texture. They were made from rye flour, honey and anise, supplemented with spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and coriander seed. Remarkably, there is no pepper in pepernoten.

In the 17th century spices were imported from the Dutch East Indies. Whatever was available on the ship was used. This produced a spicy, sturdy biscuit that was eaten during Sinterklaas. At the time they were called peperneuten or peperbollen