Throughout history, winter solstice festivals have been held across the world to celebrate the changing seasons and to mark the longest night of the year and rebirth of the Earth. Interestingly, it is these solstice rituals that mark the origin of baking cookies and treats for holiday festivities such as Christmas.
Since it was often necessary to feast before the winter famine, the solstice celebrations tended to revolve around food. In addition, the festivities and food often had an emphasis on the Earth itself and tended to incorporate natural foods such as nuts, berries, and spices.
How long have we been baking holiday treats?
In an article, The Medieval History of the Christmas Cookie Stephanie Butler mentions that by the Middle Ages, these solstice feasting traditions were being taken over by Christmas celebrations in much of present day Europe. Around this time, Christmas baking started to include traditional Christmas spices like nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger as well as dried exotic fruits including citron, apricots and dates.
Butler adds that ingredients like sugar, lard and butter would have been prized as expensive delicacies by medieval families which led to a baking bonanza on special occasions such as Christmas. Unlike pies or cakes, cookies and treats could be easily shared and given to friends and neighbors and thus began the ritual of baking Christmas cookies and treats.
Recipe for Gingerbread and Cranberry Chocolate Cups
This recipe is inspired by Pheebsfoods and makes 12 delicious, healthy treats which can be enjoyed as part of holiday celebrations or packaged and shared as special gifts. Unlike cranberries and ginger, goji berries are not traditional Christmas food but they add to the festive red colour of the filling. However, if you don’t have any on hand, they can be replaced with something like dried cherries, blueberries or even more cranberries.
Ingredients:
Base Layer:
- 8 medjool dates (soak in boiling water for 10 mins)
- 1/2 cup roasted almonds
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
Middle Layer:
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup goji berries
- 2 tbsp almond meal
- 2 tbsp brown rice syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Top Layer:
- 250g white, milk or dark chocolate (vegan)
Instructions:
1. For the base layer, drain the dates and place them along with the roasted almonds, shredded coconut, almond meal, vanilla, spices and salt into a food processor and blend until a sticky dough forms. Press this mixture evenly into the base of a muffin tin about 1/3 the way up and place into the fridge.
2. Place all middle layer ingredients into the food processor and blend until sticky and press this mixture into the cups leaving a small amount of space at the top of each for chocolate.
3. Melt the chocolate and divide amongst the cups, place into the fridge for an hour or overnight before removing them. (I used silicone muffin cups which made the chocolate cups easy to extract.)
What are Goji Berries?
The goji berry is a bright orange-red berry that comes from a shrub native to China and they have been eaten for generations in the hope of promoting long life. Goji berries have been branded as a “superfood,” and can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried (like raisins) and are most used in baking, herbal teas, juices, wines, and medicines.
Goji berries are rich in nutrients and early studies found possible benefits that include a boost to the immune system, better athletic performance, weight loss, improved sleep and a feeling of well-being and calmness. Apart from being tasty and nutritious, all these benefits of the goji berry would definitely be a welcome bonus at any time but especially over the hectic holiday season!
Closing Thoughts
The tradition of baking treats for holiday festivities has been around for eons. However, in my kitchen, the ingredients used for treats has definitely changed over the years. As referred to in Triple Layer Tahini or Caramel Bars, the ingredients used in whole foods plant-based (WFPB) baking can definitely contribute to making traditional treats healthier and more nutritious.
As with baking for the ancient winter solstice celebrations, these Gingerbread and Cranberry Chocolate Cups still emphasize the Earth by using natural ingredients such as nuts, berries and spices. Sometimes it seems that WFPB foods is a new way of eating, however, I wonder if it is more just coming full circle and is actually more a matter of moving back to old traditional rituals.
Other seasonal treats:
These look absolutely scrumptious. I was thinking – probably takes a while to make them. Doesn’t appear to be so long. I’ll inventory the cupboard and see what I need for my last grocery trip for the year. Then, I’ll get permission to use the kitchen…
LikeLiked by 1 person
These cups look equally delicious as they do adorable! Thanks for sharing another great plant-based recipe!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This looks so delicious 😍😍
LikeLiked by 1 person
Delicious cookies!😋😀😊🤗
LikeLiked by 1 person
So cute and look so yummy and festive!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks and they are actually not that fiddly to make. It can all be done fairly quickly in a food processor and then only one thing to clean! Hope you get your kitchen privileges so you can try them :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, glad you enjoyed and I am continually pleasantly surprised at the tasty plant-based recipe options out there!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, hope you get to try them :)
LikeLike
Thanks, glad you enjoyed them :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks and they are fairly easy to put together too which always helps :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
It really is great! I’ve been vegetarian since I was 7 (20 now) but I’m slowly transitioning to a more plant-based diet and love that there are so many delicious and available options!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally agree. I started the plant-based diet in the last few years. At one time the whole idea of a WFPB died would have seemed really restrictive but I can honestly say I have never eaten so well nor had so much variety in my diet. Now, I can’t imagine eating any other way :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
This looks so tasty
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, hope you get to try them :)
LikeLike
These look absolutley divine and easy to ollow too :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, hope you get to try them :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
These look awesome! It seems like as soon as I realized I needed to go gluten-free, our lactose-intolerant foster kid moved in. I’ve been at such a loss for how to combine our dietary restrictions :( I can’t wait to look through your blog for more inspiration!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am so glad to hear that you have found this helpful. I can honestly say that since I moved to this type of eating, I have never eaten so well and have more variety in my diet than ever before. I hope you find some additional recipes on the blog that work for you but also feel free to check out my Resources on the blog as I list sites that I found helpful when I moved to this type of eating :)
LikeLike
Thank you! I look forward to adding more options to my pantry so I can be more creative and try new recipes. Now I just have to decide what to do with all the extra wheat in my pantry-the husband can only eat so much!
LikeLike
Hope you have fun with it and enjoy some tasty new creations! The “old food’ is always a tough one but hope you find a good use for it :)
LikeLike
Wonderful presentation
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you :)
LikeLike