The tradition of leaving cookies for Santa is a beloved Christmas ritual, but its origins might surprise you. Celebrity chef Jason Smith, winner of Food Network's "Holiday Baking Championship," sheds light on this festive practice.
The story begins in the Middle Ages, where monks in monasteries, with access to sugar, flour, and spices, crafted early versions of Christmas cookies. These treats weren't for Santa, though. They were shared with neighbors, friends, and family as tokens of gratitude and kindness, especially valuable in times of limited resources. The Dutch later brought this tradition to the United States in the early 17th century.
These early cookies were primarily sugar cookies or spice cookies, similar to gingerbread. The connection to Santa came later, evolving from the tradition of honoring St. Nicholas, the inspiration for the modern Santa Claus. During the Feast of St. Nicholas, families would offer cookies as a tribute and to provide sustenance for travelers. This practice, according to Smith, transitioned into leaving cookies for Santa during the Great Depression in the United States. In a time of scarcity, baking cookies for Santa became a lesson in thankfulness and charity for children.
Smith recalls his own childhood experience of filling stockings with cookies for Santa, which were then replaced with gifts. The addition of milk, he explains, came later, as a refreshing complement to the cookies. While sugar and spice cookies were the original offerings, Santa's modern preference, according to Smith, is the chocolate chip cookie, a treat made special by the relative rarity of chocolate at the time. The combination of the sweet cookie, the bittersweet chocolate, and the creamy milk proved irresistible.
So, the next time you leave cookies for Santa, remember the rich history behind this simple act, from medieval monks to the Great Depression, culminating in the modern-day favorite: the chocolate chip cookie.
