Pepernoten

This evening I decided to bake my own Dutch ‘pepernoten’. In the Netherlands I just go to the supermarket or the Hema and buy a lot of them, but here the only possibility is to make them by yourself. They are delicious!

In Austria they do not celebrate ‘Sinterklaas’ as we do in Holland, but on the 5th of December Krampus is visiting Austria. He is the complete opposite from Sinterklaas in Holland, because Krampus doesn’t reward you with gifts but punishes the children. Krampus is hairy, most of the times brown or black, and has the cloven hooves and horns of a goat. He is running through the streets, carrying chains or bells. With the noise of the chains and bells he drives out the bad spirits. On youtube you can find some videos about it. I hope that Krampus is not that heavy in Vienna, otherwise I will stay at home eating ‘pepernoten’ all day long! ;)