Hello! Can you smell the scent of spices wafting to you from my kitchen through the internet? I’ll give you the recipe further on, but first I’d like to talk a bit about buttons. My Norwegian cardi still needed buttons, so I went to a nearby haberdashery shop. On a drizzly morning, when everything else in the street was still closed, it was a haven of colour and cosiness.
It is a tiny shop, crammed with sewing and knitting notions, tools and yarns. And they have a fabulous button wall.
The cardigan I knit is a kind of greyish, fairly dark blue. So, I first looked at blue buttons.
I found some in the right size that matched my yarn exactly, but… they looked a bit dull. Looking at the wooden button section for something more exciting, I fell in love with these – aren’t they fun?
The cardigan I sewed them on to is the Lang Yndlingskofte from Kofteboken 2 (this beautiful Norwegian book can be found here on Ravelry). It’s the cardigan I steeked in this blogpost. The yarn I used is CaMaRose ‘Økologisk Hverdagsuld’ (100% organic wool, 150m/164yds/50g). It is warm and light, and became very nice and soft after washing. A really, really lovely yarn. I’ve shortened the cardi by 10 cm/4 inches, but it is still fairly long and would also be great worn with a dress.
So, what is that on the baking tray I’m holding in my hands? Kruidnootjes! Kruidnootjes (literally: spice nuts) are a traditional Dutch Sinterklaas treat. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas is celebrated with gifts on December 5th, the eve of Saint Nicholas’ Day. Three weeks before the day, the venerable Sinterklaas arrives in the country by steamboat. We welcome him with special songs, and in the weeks leading up to the celebration we eat tons of kruidnootjes. They’re great to bake with children. Here is my recipe:
Kruidnootjes
(makes about 100)
Ingredients:
- 100 g self-raising flour
- 50 g dark brown muscovado sugar
- 40 g unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 tablespoon mixed spice*
- A pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons milk
*The Dutch spice mix used in this and other traditional recipes is called speculaaskruiden. It does not always have exactly the same ingredients, but is usually a blend of: ground cinnamon, coriander, aniseed, ginger, nutmeg, cardamon and cloves. Sometimes it also contains pepper or allspice. If you can’t get speculaaskruiden where you live, why not make your own? A beautifully illustrated recipe can be found here.
Method:
- Knead all the ingredients together by hand until they form a ball. Wrap the ball in clingfilm and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 175˚C/345˚F (hot air: 160˚C/320˚F)
- Roll the dough into about 100 small balls (approx. 1.5 cm/½ inch in diameter). Place them on a lightly greased baking tray.
- Place them in the oven…
- … and bake for 20 minutes.
- Leave to cool until they are nice and crunchy.
- Eat straightaway or store in an airtight container
Enjoy!
I love the buttons that you choose for your beautiful cardigan!!! Well done!
The recipe looks like it will very tasty and perfect for this time of year. It will be a treasure hunt to find the spices and blend them. I’ll let you know how it turns out and send you a picture.
Thank you.
Have fun baking kruidnootjes! (I was going to say, I hope you like them. But on second thoughts, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like them.)