St. Hildegard's Cookies of Joy

St. Hildegard's Cookies of Joy

4.7 of 5 (12)
member ratings
Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 30
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 107.7
  • Total Fat: 5.6 g
  • Cholesterol: 22.3 mg
  • Sodium: 47.4 mg
  • Total Carbs: 13.8 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
  • Protein: 1.0 g

View full nutritional breakdown of St. Hildegard's Cookies of Joy calories by ingredient


Introduction


(Recipe reconstructed and adapted from Hildegard's circa 1157 treatise Physica: Liber Simplicis Medicinæ ) These biscuits were first made over 900 years ago by the Christian saint, Hildegard of Bingen. She said that these spice biscuits should be taken t regular intervals to increase joy and positivity! I like to substitute half of the plain flour with spelt flour, and use all organic ingredients.

(Recipe reconstructed and adapted from Hildegard's circa 1157 treatise Physica: Liber Simplicis Medicinæ ) These biscuits were first made over 900 years ago by the Christian saint, Hildegard of Bingen. She said that these spice biscuits should be taken t regular intervals to increase joy and positivity! I like to substitute half of the plain flour with spelt flour, and use all organic ingredients.

Number of Servings: 30

Ingredients

    3/4 cup butter or margarine (1 1/2 sticks)
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 egg
    1 tsp baking powder
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 1/2 cups flour
    1 tsp ground cinnamon
    1 tsp ground nutmeg
    1/2 tsp ground cloves

Directions

Let butter soften and then cream it with the brown sugar. Beat in the egg. Sift the dry ingredients. Add half the dry ingredients and mix. Add the other half and mix thoroughly. Dough may be chilled to make it workable. Heat oven to 350°. Form walnut sized balls of dough, place on greased and floured cookie sheet and press flat. Bake 12-15 minutes (till edges of are golden brown.)

Cool for 5 minutes, remove from cookie sheet and finish cooling on racks.

Number of Servings: 30.0

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user SNOGUM.

Member Ratings For This Recipe


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    Incredible!
    2 of 2 people found this review helpful
    Wonderful! Six of us finished off the enitre recipe in not much more than half an hour. I'll definitely be making this again and again and again. - 2/3/09


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    1 of 12 people found this review helpful
    Hildegard's recipe:"Take some nutmeg and an equal weight of cinnamon and a bit of cloves, and pulverise them. Then make small cakes with this and fine whole wheat flour and water."

    No baking powder, sugar, eggs or butter.

    As you can see, the claim that these are her cookies is bogus.
    - 10/7/10


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    Incredible!
    1 of 2 people found this review helpful
    I love recipes with a history behind them, and I also have a fond regard for Hildegard of Bingen. I'll have to make these when I teach about her in Sunday School. - 2/17/10


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    Incredible!
    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
    really yummy nice spicy taste, great with coffee! - 2/27/09


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    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
    looks great!! I'm going to try this recipe - 12/28/08


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    Incredible!
    1 of 1 people found this review helpful
    Exceptional & subtle taste and texture! I made a few changes based upon what I had on-hand -- butter, all whole grain flour (whole wheat and oat), evaporated cane juice crystals (e.g., Sucanat), & substituted cardamom for the nutmeg. I also ground up 1/2 cup of walnuts & added to the mixture. - 12/26/08


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    Good
    Ok - 6/24/21


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    interesting - 6/24/21


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    Thanks - 5/24/21


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    Incredible!
    really great cookies. better freeze some or you'll eat them all - 5/4/21


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    Easy recipe. Didn't need a lot of ingredients. tasty too. - 4/11/21


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    tasty - 4/5/21


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    I'm going to have to try these...
    - 3/23/21


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    Incredible!
    Almost a snickerdoodle! - 3/15/21


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    Delicious. Portion control. - 2/24/21


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    Very Good
    tasty - 11/21/20


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    Lovely - 11/21/20


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    Nice recipe - 11/21/20


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    Great idea. - 11/25/19


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    Delicious. My Grandmother made a similar cookie. Thanks! - 11/23/19


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    Very Good
    Very tasty! - 4/13/19


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    Incredible!
    Dear DavidDFriedman.....we're also not using an open fire and cast iron block to make them anymore. I'm pretty sure St. Hildegard would've approved this evolved recipe. She was always open to reforms and new insights 😉 I come from the region of Bingen and we've made them like this for years. - 12/13/16


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    I agree with HookedOnTravel that the sugar is excessive. Also, not good as an antidepressant as Potatoes Not Prozac would point out. - 11/1/14


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    I'm not sure how hildegard would have had access to sugar in this quantitiy in the 1100's, but these sound like delicious cookies nonetheless! I'll have to do some research on Hildegard. - 3/11/13


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    Incredible!
    A perfect soft spice cookie! - 4/20/11