History of the Christmas Cookie

Christmas cookies have a long, rich history of representing home, family, comfort, joy, and tradition. Their history dates back to Europe in the 1500's.  And America's melting pot has been filled with family holiday cookie recipes handed down through many generations from around the world.  Christmas cookies are a tangible reminder of love, care and craft.   Following are some fun facts about these delicious treats....and of course, a link to my holiday playlist for you to enjoy while baking a few treats of your own.

• Christmas cookies first became a special once-a-year treat during the 1500's, when European laws restricted cookie baking to guildsman EXCEPT during the holidays when people were allowed to bake their own cookies at home.
• German Lebkuchen (gingerbread) was probably the first cake/cookie to be traditionally related with Christmas. 
• As early as 1597, Alsatians hung oblaten (decorated communion wafers) on their tannenbaum. Americans adopted this tradition, hanging Barnum’s Animal Cracker boxes on their Christmas trees in the 1800's (the boxes were designed for this purpose).
• It is believed that the Dutch brought the tradition of Christmas cookies to the U.S. in the late 1700's. 
• Holiday cut-out cookies can be traced back to colonial times when Yule dows (cut-out cookies often in the shape of the baby Jesus) were used as part of the Church of England's Christmas tradition of mumming,  where Christmas stories were acted out and food was used to help depict the stories.
• In the 1800s, Pennsylvania Dutch children created large cut-out cookies as window decorations. Yule dows became popular again and were called Yule dollies. They were made with tin cutters and shaped like people, elaborately decorated with icing (like today’s gingerbread men). The face was always made out of a scrap of paper cut out of magazines, which had to be removed before the cookie was eaten. They were controversial because some factions felt the cookies were not religious enough.
• Santa became associated with Christmas in the 1840's.   But the tradition of leaving cookies for Santa began during the Great Depression, as a way for parents to encourage generosity in their children.

Holiday Baking Playlist