Holiday Cookies, Santa Claus, and Christmas Cards

As Christmas approaches, millions of children will be heading into the kitchen with their parents to put together a little snack for Santa Claus. The traditional milk and cookies on a plate has been long believed to be Santa’s (and parents’) favorite treat while putting all of those neatly wrapped gifts under the tree on Christmas Eve.

However, here are some facts about the tradition you may not have known.

Christmas Cookies for Santa: Origins

Although no one really knows for sure why children leave cookies for Santa, except that his jolly stomach suggests he loves sweets. However, one belief is that the tradition began around the time of the Great Depression in the United States. To teach children the importance of sharing, they were encouraged to leave cookies in exchange for their gifts.

The idea of leaving food or treats for Santa and his team, however, has been around for centuries and is practiced all over the world in different ways. In Spain, for example, children fill shoes with straw and carrots not for Santa but for the horses of the three wise men. In the Netherlands, children fill their shoes with sugar and hay for Santa’s horses (he delivers by horseback not flying sleigh). When they wake up, their shoes have been filled with candy and nuts instead. In Denmark, on the other hand, children believe Santa’s elves live in their attics and help Santa with the gifts so they leave a snack for them: rice pudding and milk.

Favorite Cookies for the Season

While once upon a time, most children would spend Christmas Eve night with their parents baking up delicious fresh cookies for Santa Claus, today the most popular cookie to leave the good old St. Nick is not fresh-baked at all. Instead, the number one choice is the Oreo cookie. With more than 9 billion Oreo cookies being sold every year, they are clearly popular with the rest of us so it’s a good bet Santa will love them too.

If you are baking your own cookies, then gingerbread and sugar cookies are also popular choices. They work well with cookie cutters and are easy to decorate with colored icing or sprinkles. Of course, there’s also nothing wrong with traditional favorites such as chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, or peanut butter either.

Remembering Christmas Cookies with Your Greeting Cards

Because Christmas cookies are a reminder of all those wonderful families we have spent with our families both as children and as parents, they make a perfect theme for your annual Christmas cards. Some adorable examples you might consider include Cookie Family, Cookies Holiday, and Holiday Cookies. They will all definitely put you and your recipients in the Christmas spirit.