Sinterklaas brings with him
a whole array of different sweets and cookies.

The most special are:

PEPERNOTEN

Pepernoten are little lumps
made of a mix of cookiesdough and herbs.
Some call them gingernuts,
but that doesn't describe them at all.

There are two kinds:

Little, round, crisp cookies.
They are the most wellknown
and
little bigger lumps,
which are less herbal
and tough to eat.

Pepernoten are used
to throw them into a room
by surprise: "strooien".

Also very loved
by children and adults alike:

TAAI-TAAI

Taai-taai is tough to eat.
It sticks everywhere in your mouth,
but the sweet taste makes up
for all the problems of getting it off your teeth.
Taai-taai is, like pepernoten,
highly addictive.

A favorite of nearly every Dutch person:

SPECULAAS

It has a strong herbal taste.
It's a crisp cookie
with a design of either
a mill, a plant
a flower, an elephant,
a girl and a plant, or a girl and a boy.
It's in the shops
every day of the year
and it tasted great
on white bread with (thick and cold) butter.

Large dolls of speculaas are called:
lovers.
So if you get one at december 5th,
you'll know that someone loves you.

Another Dutch Sinterklaas-treat is a

CHOCOLADELETTER

Chocolate letters can be found in your shoe
as a single present
or as a part of a larger one.
Either it is the "S" of Sint or
the first letter of your name.
There are all sorts of chocolate letters:
pure, milk, haselnut, etc.
Some years ago a special letter
for diabetics was invented
after the non-sugar one wasn't a succes:
the cheese letter.
A week ago I saw in a leaflet
that there are soap-letters too.
I prefer the white chocolate ones.....

During the Sinterklaas season
we have all kinds of:

CHOCOLADEFIGUURTJES

I remember I had a special preference
as a little girl
for chocolate Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet,
and I loved little chocolate animals.

One could also make me happy with:

SUIKERBEESTJES

Little sugaranimals
especially
the lemon- and the chocolate-flavored ones.
I used to play with them.
Creating my own sugar-animal farm.
Untill my hands got sticky,
the animals soft
and my longing for their taste too much!!!

BORSTPLAATJES

A bit of sugar, a bit of milk or cream,
and a bit of work and flavor...
and a lot of patience...
The mother of a friend of mine makes the best.
She not only makes the little round ones,
but also large hearts.
Chocolate flavor !!!
The crispy outside,
and the soft inside
that melts on your tongue...
mmmmmmmmm!!!

GEVULDE SPECULAAS

As highly addictive as the former treats
is gevulde speculaas.
The speculaasflavor is in the outer ler
of soft speculaas.
The inner layer
is made of shredded almonds
mixed with sugar and some other ingredients.

AMANDELSTAAF

The same almond inner part,
in a bit more neutral tasting outer layer
can be found here.
When warm it tastes just wonderful
especially with strong hot coffee.
Amandelstaaf can be bought
or found in your shoe
straight, as a letter, or as a circle.
Although the circle
is more of a Christmas item.

Interested in making
a Sinterklaas sweet yourself?
Go and have a look at the page
of recipes.
Or do you want
to know more about Sinterklaas?
Just click the speculaasdoll.