Kruidnoten proeven in een Sinterklaas taste test

What are “kruidnoten” and how are they different from “pepernoten”?

Kruidnoten are the small, crunchy spice cookies the Dutch eat by the kilo from mid-November until Sinterklaas (December 5). The mix is cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, anise, ginger; the dough is rolled into small balls and baked dense. They’re not the same as pepernoten (a softer, chewier old-school cookie almost no one makes anymore, though “pepernoten” survives as a colloquial label for any small Sinterklaas cookie). Supermarkets stock them in a dozen flavors, and Dutch offices have bowls of them through the season.

In this Quinn en Aaron sketch, a baker hosts a taste test: “Welkom bij Marco’s kruidnoten experimenten taste test.” The verdict on the spicy version: “Hey, hey, spicy.”