Pebernødder

The story

Tiny, hard, bite-size spice cookies, pebernødder are eaten throughout Advent rather than only at Christmas. In many Danish homes a little bowl of them sits on the table every day in December, within reach of children passing through the kitchen. The name translates as “pepper nuts,” a nod to the pepper that, along with cinnamon and cardamom, goes into the dough's spice blend. A favorite Danish game is attached to these cookies, called “mus” (mouse): one child closes their eyes while the others secretly pick one pebernød on the table, then eats the cookies one by one until reaching for the chosen one, at which point everyone shouts “Mus!” It is a simple, harmless guessing game that introduces children to the idea of risk and reward by way of the cookie bowl. They are smaller and harder than Swedish pepparkakor, almost like little pebbles that slowly melt in the mouth after the first bite. For Danish American families, a bowl of pebernødder on the table all December long is one of the easiest everyday rituals by which children learn to count down the days to Christmas Eve.