Paprenjak are a traditional biscuit

Biscuit

A biscuit is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations....

 made in Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

. This peculiar biscuit contains a unique mix of honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...

 and black pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

. The main ingredients are sugar syrup or honey, butter or fat, eggs, nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts), pepper and various spices (clove, cinnamon, nutmeg).

The Croatian author August Senoa

August Šenoa

August Šenoa was a Croatian novelist, critic, editor, poet, and dramatist....

 featured the biscuit in his novel "Goldsmith's gold" published in 1871.

Tradition

The origins of paprenjak are unclear but they are known to have existed in the 16th century during the Renaissance. Traditionally, in older times, Croatian people made paprenjak throughout the year, and more lately it is a family tradition in many homes to make paprenjak for Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 – an event in which the whole family would come together, mothers and grandmothers to make the dough and children to stamp out the paprenjak shapes for Christmas.

Paprenjak takes on many shapes, some as gingerbread men, stars, trees, and some use a wooden press to emboss a pattern on the biscuit.

Paprenjak in Other Countries

Peppery biscuits are scattered across Europe, but are particular sought after in Germanic and Scandinavian countries. It's understood that a Croatian family moved to Sweden taking their grandmother Teresa with them and her delicious recipe for pepper cookies, Paprenjak.

Each country that has adopted Paprenjak have adjusted the recipe for their region's taste. Swedish biscuit called Pepparkakor contains orange flavours. The German biscuit Pfeffernusse

Pfeffernüsse

Pfeffernüsse are small, firm, round biscuits, sometimes with ground nuts....

 contains aniseed, and the Icelandic biscuit called Piparkökur contains cardamom

Cardamom

Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...

 and paprika

Paprika

Paprika is a spice made from the grinding of dried fruits of Capsicum annuum . In many European languages, the word paprika refers to bell peppers themselves. The seasoning is used in many cuisines to add color and flavor to dishes. Paprika can range from mild to hot...

.