Cookies That Bring Joy

Hildegard of Bingen’s cookie recipe combines simple ingredients into these delightful cookies. Adults should eat 5 a day and children 3 a day. According to Hildegard, spelt soothes the mind, and nutmeg brightens the mood. These two ingredients account for a large part of the positive effects of the cookies. Nutmeg has a stimulating effects, due to the essential oil myristicin, which in moderate doses serves as a mood enhancer; in large quantities it acts as a psychoactive drug.

Ingredients

• 12 Tablespoon Butter for mixture

• + 1 T Butter to grease cookie sheet

• ¾ cup brown sugar

• 1/3 cup honey

• 4 egg yolks

• 2.5 cups spelt flour

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 2 rounded Tablespoons of “spices that bring joy” mix (mix together 1 tsp Nutmeg, 1 tsp Cinnamon, 1 tsp Cloves)

Preparation:

Melt butter under low heat, add sugar, honey, egg yolks, beating lightly. Add flour, salt, combine gently. Refrigerate dough after mixing for 1 hour. Remove, roll out on floured surface, cut with cookie cutter. Bake on sheet 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes until just golden watching closely.

“Take one whole nutmeg, add equal amounts of cinnamon and a pinch of cloves, grind this together until if forms a fine powder; add the flour and a little water. Make small cookies and eat these often. They will reduce bad humors, enrich blood and fortify the nerves. Children may eat up to three cookies a day and adults may eat five. These cookies help strengthen the five sense and reduce the effects of aging. They may remove hate from the heart, assure good intelligence, reduce harmful juices (secretions), and give one a joyful spirit.”