Gingerbread Cookies - with Cream Cheese Frosting - the most requested Christmas Cookie Recipe. (2024)

FAQs

What country is gingerbread from? ›

According to Rhonda Massingham Hart's Making Gingerbread Houses, the first known recipe for gingerbread came from Greece in 2400 BC. Chinese recipes were developed during the 10th century and by the late Middle Ages, Europeans had their own version of gingerbread.

In the late 17th century, gingerbread became associated with Christmas. Russian bakers prepared gingerbread men and women, usually as replicas of those people attending parties. Gingerbread houses were introduced about 200 years later, when the Grimm brothers wrote Hansel and Gretel. A new holiday tradition was born.

The niacin in ginger cookies promotes healthy cell development, controls gene activity and aids in cell-to-cell communication. A serving of gingersnaps or gingerbread cookies provides roughly 1.8 milligrams of niacin -- 13 and 11 percent of the daily niacin intakes recommended for women and men, respectively.

Soft, moist and nutty German gingerbread was invented by medieval monks in Franconia, Germany in the 13th century. Lebkuchen bakers were recorded as early as 1296 in the city of Ulm and in 1395 in Nürnberg (Nuremberg).

Pierniki - the famous ginger spiced cookies that hail from Poland's medieval city of Toruń, have a history that is well over 700 years old! Because of its long-upheld tradition, Polish gingerbread has become a symbol of the city, famous not only all over Poland but also recognized all over the world!

Victorian cook Sarah Nelson invented Grasmere Gingerbread® in 1854 in the English Lake District village from where it gets its name. A unique, spicy-sweet cross between a biscuit and cake, its reputation quickly spread and it is now enjoyed by food lovers all over the world.

Food historians trace the origins of gingerbread back to the ancient Egyptians, who used it for ceremonial purposes. The ancient Greeks followed suit with the first known recipe for gingerbread around 2400 B.C.

We know gingerbread cookies became a Christmas thing sometime in the 17th century. If gingerbread houses were already a thing in the 16th century, it makes sense that the laborious task of baking and decorating a proper gingerbread house likely required a lot of time and a lot of hands.

Surprising benefits

Research shows it may aid in digestion, reduce nausea and help fight the common cold and flu. It's also believed ginger may support weight management, help manage arthritis and may also alleviate menstrual symptoms.

Needing to be foiled, gingerbread loves whipped cream. But it also takes to tart winter fruits like a shortcake to strawberries. Poached or broiled pineapple sings alongside gingerbread, as do a few spoonfuls of pomelo curd, garnished with candied pomelo peel.

Why do people eat gingerbread cookies? ›

Although the core ingredients of gingerbread had become more affordable to a wider proportion of society, it was still considered a treat to be eaten on special occasions. Gingerbread was particularly associated with fairs. It was considered good luck to eat a piece of gingerbread bought at a fair.

Roughly 80,000 tons are produced annually, most being consumed within Germany. Lebkuchen Schmidt, Nuremberg's most famous baker, has been producing gingerbread since 1601. From its location on the city's Hauptmarkt, where Nuremberg's famous Christmas market takes place each year, Schmidt forms the cookies by hand.

In 2018, the highest levels of gingerbread per capita consumption was registered in the Netherlands (2,361 kg per 1000 persons), followed by Germany (886 kg per 1000 persons), Belgium (799 kg per 1000 persons) and Spain (748 kg per 1000 persons), while the world average per capita consumption of gingerbread was ...

Lebkuchen (pronounced leyb-koo-kuh n) is a centuries-old German spiced treat traditionally baked during the winter holiday season. While lebkuchen is often translated to English as gingerbread, it's not exactly what most Americans envision when they think of gingerbread.

TORUN, Poland — This medieval city on the banks of the Vistula River is known for two things: astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and gingerbread cookies.

A brief history

Gingerbread was first brought to Europe in 992 CE by the Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis when he taught French Christians the art of gingerbread baking. Later, during the 13th century, gingerbread was brought to Sweden by German immigrants.

Some of these gingerbread cookies take months to make. In 1296, in the city of Ulm on the Danube River, Franconian monks invented a culinary wonder. Thanks to the Old Salt Road, a trading route through Germany out to the Far East, the monks had access to cinnamon, cloves, and anise.