Pepernoten

Today it’s 5 December – time for the Dutch ‘Sinterklaas’ celebrations, lots of presents, happy children and of course: PEPERNOTEN! But what to do if you don’t live in Holland and can’t just go to the supermarket for a bag or two (or twenty) of pepernoten? Here’s your answer:

You will need:

• 500 gram wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 150 gram sugar (preferably raw or brown sugar)
• 100 gram honey
• 6 tbsp milk
• 4 tbsp ‘speculaaskruiden’* (see below)
• 160 gram soft butter

Pumpkin bread with seeds

I usually have a pumpkin (or two) at home. In Costa Rica you can buy these the whole year and I think it's one of the most convenient vegetables on earth: while still in their skin you can easily store them for several weeks until you need them, you can make a delicious puree out of it in no time, it's very healthy and what's more, my daughters love it! Last weekend I decided to make something else out of it besides the usual portion of puree for our girls. So I took part of the puree and made a pumpkinbread, and with this I also found a good use for the seeds (due to lack of time and inspiration these used to disappear in the trash can, but that will really change from now on because they're delicious if you bake/roast them quickly with some olive oil, salt and pepper!) 


Here's the recipe and some pictures. This recipe is good for 1 large or 2 small breads - you can of course adjust the quantities depending on how many breads you would like to bake.