These Christmas cookie trivia questions and answers are for the host of a cookie swap: where gingerbread houses began, what Pfeffernüsse means, why royal icing holds a gingerbread house together, and which cookies other countries bake in December.
Read the full guide
Four rounds for the swap table
The history of Christmas baking runs from Lebkuchen monks to gingerbread houses. Cookie words and where they come from translates names such as krumkake and hallongrotta. Ingredients and kitchen science asks what molasses, gluten and baker's ammonia are. Christmas cookies around the world goes from Scotland to New Mexico.
Print a sheet of 20
A tap on a choice shows the answer and its reason. After ten questions the card offers Print question sheet, a sheet of 20. Open More options there for Topic, to stay on one round, and for Print answer key.
Tips
No packaged brand is named, so nobody needs to know a label to win.
Cookie words and where they come from suits guests who speak German, Norwegian or Swedish.
Questions and answers
Where did gingerbread houses come from?
Germany. The tradition of decorated gingerbread houses started there in the early 1800s. Some researchers link it to a Brothers Grimm fairy tale in which two children find a house made of bread with sugar decorations.
What does Pfeffernüsse mean?
Peppernuts. The name does not mean the cookie contains nuts. In Germany, Pfeffernüsse are associated with Christmas, and in 1820 the Brothers Grimm warned their sister not to eat too many.
Why is it called a baker's dozen?
A baker's dozen is 13. In medieval England a law punished bakers for short measure, so they added an extra piece to be sure the weight was met. The thirteenth is called the vantage loaf.
What holds a gingerbread house together?
Royal icing, a hard white icing made from softly beaten egg whites and powdered sugar. It is used as an edible glue for gingerbread houses. The question is in Ingredients and kitchen science.
After the picture is pressed into springerle dough, what happens before baking?Answer: The dough is left to dry. Source: Wikipedia: Springerle
The city of Toruń has made gingerbread since the Middle Ages. In which country is it?Answer: Poland. Source: Wikipedia: Toruń gingerbread
From the 17th century, traders of which nation brought spices from Asia in large amounts, which led bakers to try them?Answer: The Dutch. Source: Wikipedia: Speculoos
Gingerbread is claimed to have been brought to Europe in 992 by a monk from which country?Answer: Armenia. Source: Wikipedia: Gingerbread
In 1487 the emperor Friedrich III gave Lebkuchen printed with his portrait to almost four thousand of whom?Answer: The children of Nuremberg. Source: Wikipedia: Lebkuchen
In 1820 the Brothers Grimm warned their sister not to eat too many of which Christmas cookies?Answer: Pepper nuts (Pfeffernüsse). Source: Wikipedia: Pfeffernüsse
In which country did the custom of decorated gingerbread houses begin, in the early 1800s?Answer: Germany. Source: Wikipedia: Gingerbread house
In which year did Amelia Simmons print the first known United States recipe for soft gingerbread?Answer: 1796. Source: Wikipedia: Gingerbread
Lebkuchen bakers were recorded in 1395 in which German city, the most famous exporter of Lebkuchen today?Answer: Nuremberg. Source: Wikipedia: Lebkuchen
Lebkuchen was invented in the 13th century in Franconia, Germany. By whom?Answer: Monks. Source: Wikipedia: Lebkuchen
The refinement of shortbread is popularly credited to which 16th-century queen?Answer: Mary, Queen of Scots. Source: Wikipedia: Shortbread
Some researchers link the first gingerbread houses to a fairy tale in which two children find an edible house. Who collected that tale?Answer: The Brothers Grimm. Source: Wikipedia: Gingerbread house
Speculaas, the spiced biscuit, comes from the Low Countries. Which two modern countries is that?Answer: Belgium and the Netherlands. Source: Wikipedia: Speculoos
Springerle, cookies stamped with a picture from a mold, can be traced back to at least which century?Answer: The 14th century. Source: Wikipedia: Springerle
Who first made Basler Läckerli, the hard spice biscuit of Basel, more than 700 years ago?Answer: Local spice merchants. Source: Wikipedia: Basler Läckerli
Cookie words and where they come from 15
Cavallucci are a Christmas pastry of Siena. What does the name mean?Answer: Little horses. Source: Wikipedia: Cavallucci
The crumbly Spanish shortbread polvorón is named after polvo. What does polvo mean?Answer: Powder or dust. Source: Wikipedia: Polvorón
In American English, cookies baked as one layer in a pan and then cut are bar cookies. What are they called in British English?Answer: Traybakes. Source: Wikipedia: Cookie
In Norway a fried Christmas pastry is called fattigmann. What does that mean in English?Answer: Poor man. Source: Wikipedia: Klenät
In the United Kingdom and Australia, the tiny round sprinkles on a cookie are known as hundreds and what?Answer: Thousands. Source: Wikipedia: Sprinkles
In the United Kingdom, what is the most common word for a crisp cookie?Answer: Biscuit. Source: Wikipedia: Cookie
Lebkuchen is also called Honigkuchen in German. What does Honigkuchen mean?Answer: Honey cakes. Source: Wikipedia: Lebkuchen
The name macaroon comes, through French, from a Sicilian word that is the same word as which food?Answer: Macaroni. Source: Wikipedia: Macaroon
The name springerle translates literally as little jumper or little what?Answer: Knight. Source: Wikipedia: Springerle
The Norwegian cookie krumkake is rolled into a cone while hot. What does its name mean?Answer: Curved cake. Source: Wikipedia: Krumkake
Sandbakelse are sugar cookies served at Christmas in Norway. What does the name mean?Answer: Sand pastry. Source: Wikipedia: Sandbakelse
The Swedish cookie hallongrotta is known in the United States as a thumbprint cookie. What does hallongrotta mean?Answer: Raspberry cave. Source: Wikipedia: Hallongrotta
What does the name Pfeffernüsse literally mean?Answer: Peppernuts. Source: Wikipedia: Pfeffernüsse
What is the thirteenth loaf of a baker's dozen called?Answer: The vantage loaf. Source: Wikipedia: Dozen
When the word gingerbread first came into use, what did it mean?Answer: Preserved ginger. Source: Wikipedia: Gingerbread
Ingredients and kitchen science 13
Baker's ammonia, an old leavening for crisp northern European cookies, was once called hartshorn. What was it first made from?Answer: Ground deer horn. Source: Wikipedia: Ammonium carbonate
Bakers of Lebkuchen found that honey-sweetened dough improves when it is stored cool for several weeks. What happens to it?Answer: It ferments and forms air bubbles. Source: Wikipedia: Lebkuchen
Baking powder holds a bicarbonate and a weak acid in one dry mix. What keeps the two from reacting too early?Answer: A drying agent such as cornstarch. Source: Wikipedia: Baking powder
The browning that gives baked cookies much of their flavor is the Maillard reaction. What reacts with sugars in it?Answer: Amino acids. Source: Wikipedia: Maillard reaction
Cream of tartar, a part of many baking powders, comes from substances that occur naturally in which fruit?Answer: Grapes. Source: Wikipedia: Potassium bitartrate
The English named allspice in 1621 because it seemed to combine the flavors of which three spices?Answer: Cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Source: Wikipedia: Allspice
The ginger used as a spice is which part of the plant?Answer: The rhizome. Source: Wikipedia: Ginger
Gingerbread is typically flavored with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and which other spice?Answer: Cloves. Source: Wikipedia: Gingerbread
Powdered sugar usually contains a little corn starch. What is it there for?Answer: To stop the sugar from clumping. Source: Wikipedia: Powdered sugar
Royal icing sets hard, so it is used to stick gingerbread houses together. What is it made from?Answer: Egg whites and powdered sugar. Source: Wikipedia: Royal icing
Traditional Scottish shortbread uses one part sugar and two parts butter to how many parts flour?Answer: Three to four. Source: Wikipedia: Shortbread
What does gluten give to a dough?Answer: Its elasticity. Source: Wikipedia: Gluten
What is molasses?Answer: A thick byproduct of refining sugar. Source: Wikipedia: Molasses
Christmas cookies around the world 19
A joulutorttu, the Christmas pastry of Finland, is shaped like a star or pinwheel. What fills it?Answer: Prune jam. Source: Wikipedia: Joulutorttu
After baking, what are Russian tea cakes, also called snowball cookies, rolled in?Answer: Powdered sugar. Source: Wikipedia: Russian tea cake
Bethmännchen, marzipan cookies of Frankfurt, once carried four almonds each. By legend, what did the four stand for?Answer: A banker's four sons. Source: Wikipedia: Bethmännchen
Biscotti, the twice-baked almond biscuits, come from the city of Prato in which Italian region?Answer: Tuscany. Source: Wikipedia: Biscotti
Butter cookies packed in round tins come from which country?Answer: Denmark. Source: Wikipedia: Butter cookie
Cuccidati, served at Christmas in Sicily, are cookies stuffed with which fruit?Answer: Figs. Source: Wikipedia: Cuccidati
In Alsace, families bake small Christmas biscuits called bredele. What does tradition have each family do with them?Answer: Give them to the neighbors. Source: Wikipedia: Bredele
In the Netherlands and Belgium, small spiced kruidnoten belong to which early December celebration?Answer: Sinterklaas. Source: Wikipedia: Kruidnoten
The Linzertorte, with a lattice of dough over fruit preserves, is named after a city in which country?Answer: Austria. Source: Wikipedia: Linzertorte
The melomakarono, a Christmas sweet of Greece, is made mainly from flour, olive oil and what?Answer: Honey. Source: Wikipedia: Melomakarono
Moravian spice cookies, a Christmas tradition in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, have which reputation?Answer: The thinnest cookie in the world. Source: Wikipedia: Moravian spice cookies
Pizzelle are thin waffle cookies pressed in an iron. Which country do they come from?Answer: Italy. Source: Wikipedia: Pizzelle
Pizzelle are thought to descend from the crustulum. Which ancient people baked it?Answer: The Romans. Source: Wikipedia: Pizzelle
Ricciarelli, almond biscuits that date from the 14th century, come from which Italian city?Answer: Siena. Source: Wikipedia: Ricciarelli
Shortbread, eaten at Christmas and at New Year, comes from which country?Answer: Scotland. Source: Wikipedia: Shortbread
Tirggel, the thin honey biscuits of Zürich, get their pictures from what?Answer: Carved wooden molds. Source: Wikipedia: Tirggel
Vanillekipferl are said to have been shaped to mark a victory of 1683. Which battle was it?Answer: The Battle of Vienna. Source: Wikipedia: Vanillekipferl
Vanillekipferl, dusted with vanilla sugar at Christmas, are an Austrian biscuit. What shape are they?Answer: A crescent. Source: Wikipedia: Vanillekipferl
Which was the first state of the United States to name an official state cookie?Answer: New Mexico. Source: Wikipedia: Bizcochito
How this list was compiled
Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Every question, wrong choice and explanation is our own wording. Each answer agrees with a sentence in the English Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org) named and linked beside the question, read on 2026-10-02; every extra claim in an explanation was read on the same page. The questions are about Christmas cookies only: the history of Christmas baking, cookie words, ingredients and kitchen science, and the cookies other countries bake for the season. Where an origin is a legend or a claim, the question says so. Left out on purpose: packaged brands, makers and shops, recipes and baking advice, drinks, and facts the site's food, Christmas and workplace packs already ask (who first had gingerbread figures made, what biscotti means, how many make a baker's dozen, where cinnamon, cloves and mace come from, the dearest spice). No question repeats one of theirs word for word as they stood on 2026-10-02. Levels are our estimate for a mixed table of adults and older children; each round is stored easiest first. Licence: own work