Q 01/05

Modern Christmas cookies trace back to the biscuits of which period?

A) Ancient Rome

B) Tudor England

C) Medieval Europe

D) Colonial America

Answer · why

C) Medieval Europe

Medieval Europe is where the story begins: spices such as cinnamon and ginger, along with almonds and dried fruit, reached western kitchens then and w...

Q 02/05

Who brought the earliest Christmas cookies to the United States, in the early 17th century?

A) The Spanish

B) The Dutch

C) The French

D) The Swedish

Answer · why

B) The Dutch

The Dutch brought the earliest Christmas cookies to what became the United States in the early 17th century, through the settlers of New Netherland; t...

Q 03/05

What made cookie cutters widely available in American shops between 1871 and 1906?

A) Cheap German imports

B) An expiring patent

C) Mass-produced tin plate

D) A store promotion

Answer · why

A) Cheap German imports

Cheap German imports did it: after US import rules changed, inexpensive tin cookie cutters from Germany flooded American shops between 1871 and 1906, ...

Q 04/05

Since which decade have US and Canadian children left cookies and milk out on Christmas Eve?

A) The 1950s

B) The 1890s

C) The 1970s

D) The 1930s

Answer · why

D) The 1930s

The 1930s is the usual starting point: the custom of leaving cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve took hold in the United States and Canada dur...

Q 05/05

Who created the modern sugar cookie, according to its history?

A) French pastry chefs

B) English bakers in London

C) Moravian settlers in Pennsylvania

D) Dutch bakers in New York

Answer · why

C) Moravian settlers in Pennsylvania

Moravian settlers in Pennsylvania get the credit: German-speaking Moravians who settled Nazareth in the 1740s baked a round, crumbly, buttery biscuit ...