Pepernoot

Pepernoten are small, light brown, square Dutch cookie-like confections made from the same ingredients as taai-taai: rye flour, sugar and aniseed, sometimes with cinnamon and clove, giving them a fairly chewy texture that hardens as they are exposed to air. They are traditionally associated with the early December Sinterklaas holiday in the Netherlands and Belgium, where a customary practice involves throwing handfuls of them around a room for children to find, a custom rooted in older fertility symbolism. Their flavor is similar to the German Pfeffernüsse, though pepernoten remain a distinct Dutch tradition.