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Culinary Explorer
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Pepernoten
Created by
The old Sinterklaas sweet is not the crisp little kruidnoot at all, but a chewy rye-and-anise morsel, dark with syrup and old winter spice.
Pastries & Cookies
Dutch
Christmas
Holiday
Make Ahead
20 min
Active Time
14 min cook•1 hr 34 min total
Yield60 small pepernoten
Smell pepernoten baking and you're smelling December before the tree has earned the room. Not Christmas first, no. Sinterklaas first: paper shoes by the stove, mandarins in a bowl, children listening for hooves on impossible roofs. In my grandmother's second notebook, the word pepernoten sits beside a dark little dough of rye, syrup, honey, and anise. No neat domes. No chocolate coat. Just small, irregular pieces that chew back a little, as old sweets often do.
But let me tell you a secret. Most Dutch people now call kruidnoten by the wrong name. Kruidnoten are the crisp round ones, made with speculaas spice and shaped like tiny half-buttons. Pepernoten are older, softer, darker, closer to taaitaai, that chewy honey cake whose name means tough-tough, for obvious reasons. The name already tells you the trail: peper, pepper, once stood for the costly heat of the spice cupboard more broadly than our modern pepper mill allows, and noot, nut, points to the little pieces tossed and shared.
So we keep the method honest. Rye for depth, honey and koekstroop, Dutch baking syrup, for chew, anise because Sinterklaas without anise is a bishop without a mitre, and enough spice to remind you that Dutch thrift once kept company with very expensive cargo. Hou het altijd simpel. Mix, rest, cut, bake briefly. The dough tells them apart.
Pepernoten belong to the Dutch Sinterklaas season and are part of strooigoed, the small sweets scattered for children around 5 December. Older pepernoten are related to taaitaai and peperkoek traditions: rye flour, honey or syrup, anise, and winter spices made into chewy irregular morsels rather than crisp round biscuits. Modern Dutch shops often label kruidnoten as pepernoten, but historically the two are distinct, with kruidnoten closer to small speculaas cookies and pepernoten closer to spiced honey cake.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
rye flour
Quantity
200g
plain flour
Quantity
100g
dark brown basterdsuiker or dark brown sugar
Quantity
100g
koekstroop or dark baking syrup
Quantity
100g
honey
Quantity
75g
unsalted butter
Quantity
40g
ground aniseed
Quantity
2 teaspoons
speculaaskruiden
Quantity
2 teaspoons
ground white pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
baking powder
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
fine salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
milk
Quantity
2 tablespoons, plus more if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| rye flour | 200g |
| plain flour | 100g |
| dark brown basterdsuiker or dark brown sugar | 100g |
| koekstroop or dark baking syrup | 100g |
| honey | 75g |
| unsalted butter | 40g |
| ground aniseed | 2 teaspoons |
| speculaaskruiden | 2 teaspoons |
| ground white pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| baking powder | 1/2 teaspoon |
| fine salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| milk | 2 tablespoons, plus more if needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Baking tray
- •Parchment paper
Instructions
- 1
Warm the syrup
Put the koekstroop, honey, butter, and brown sugar in a small pan over low heat. Warm just until the butter melts and the sugar loosens into a dark glossy syrup. Don't boil it; boiled honey turns bossy and the dough becomes harder than a December doorstep.
- 2
Mix the dough
Stir the rye flour, plain flour, aniseed, speculaaskruiden, white pepper, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Pour in the warm syrup mixture and add the milk. Mix until you have a firm, sticky dough that holds together when pressed. If dry flour remains at the bottom, add milk one teaspoon at a time.
- 3
Rest the dough
Wrap the dough and let it rest for at least 1 hour at room temperature. Rye needs this pause. The syrup sinks into the flour, the anise stops shouting, and the dough becomes something you can cut instead of something you must wrestle.
- 4
Cut the pieces
Heat the oven to 170C and line a baking tray with parchment. Pat the dough into a slab about 1.5cm thick, then cut it into small rough cubes or nuggets, each about the size of a hazelnut in its shell. Pepernoten should look scattered, not manufactured.
- 5
Bake until set
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges look set and the tops have dulled from sticky to matte. They will still feel soft when pressed. Good. Pull them before they harden, because pepernoten should chew, while kruidnoten should snap.
- 6
Cool and soften
Let the pepernoten cool completely on the tray, then store them in a tin. They are better the next day, when the syrup has settled and the chew has become gentle rather than stubborn.
Chef Tips
- •Use rye flour, not all wheat flour. Without rye, you have made a spiced cookie, pleasant enough, but the old pepernoot character has slipped out the back door.
- •Koekstroop gives the best Dutch chew. If you can't find it, use dark corn syrup or golden syrup with a spoonful of molasses mixed in.
- •Don't confuse the bake time with kruidnoten. These should come out soft and firm up only slightly as they cool.
- •Make them a day ahead for Sinterklaasavond, Sinterklaas evening. The spice settles overnight and the texture becomes properly chewy.
Advance Preparation
- •The dough can rest overnight, wrapped, at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator; bring it back to room temperature before cutting.
- •Baked pepernoten keep well for 1 week in a closed tin and improve after the first day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 10g)
Calories
45 calories
Total Fat
1 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
2 mg
Sodium
25 mg
Total Carbohydrates
9 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
1 g
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