These Dutch chocolate pepernoten (or chocolate kruidnoten) are easy to make yourself. Delicious festive biscuits, coated in chocolate.
This recipe contains the following allergens. Click on the allergen to search for alternative recipes.
Made by Véronique
Published at 2021-11-25, this recipe is for 8 persons and takes 1 hours.
Founder of Ohmydish (since 2014), she prefers to spend all day in the kitchen. Once working in the hospitality industry as an independent chef, she loves helping you gain confidence in the kitchen. With her easy-to-follow recipes, handy tips, and cooking knowledge, you'll make the most delicious dishes yourself! The recipes are accessible to everyone, from beginners to advanced home cooks.
Updated at: 2025-10-03
Combine the soft butter with the caster sugar, self-raising flour, a pinch of lemon zest, the gingerbread spices and a pinch of salt.
It is best to do this by hand to create an even dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and place it in the fridge to rest. You can leave it for a minimum of an hour, or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius or 345 fahrenheit.
Knead the dough for a while, then divide into small, evenly sized balls. Put them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake the kruidnoten for around 20 - 25 minutes, then let them cool.
Melt the chocolates in separate bowls; you can do this in the microwave or using a bain-marie. White chocolate does not always melt well, you can make it more liquid by stirring in a little neutral oil.
Dip the pepernoten, one by one, in one of the melted chocolates, then use a fork to transfer to a large plate lined with baking parchment.
Repeat until all the kruidnoten are covered, then allow the chocolate to harden completely. Enjoy!
Which chocolate brand is best for pepernoten?
You can use whichever brand of chocolate you like, there’s no need to use a specific brand.
You can use a bar of chocolate, or chocolate drops. Chocolate drops are easier to melt than chocolate bars.
My white chocolate is too thick, what can I do?
White chocolate does not always melt well, this is because it is not actually “real” chocolate. To make it more liquid, you can stir in a little neutral oil, such as sunflower oil.
What are pepernoten and kruidnoten?
Both of these biscuits are very familiar to Dutch consumers. If you live outside the Netherlands, you may not have heard of them. Pepernoten are uneven, square-shaped biscuits, flavoured with aniseed, and other spices (like clove and cinnamon). Kruidnoten are little round biscuits, similar in shape and size to amaretti biscuits, and are made from speculaas.
What is speculaas?
Speculaas is a type of spiced biscuit / cookie which is popular in the Netherlands. It is similar to the Belgian Speculoos biscuit / cookie, which is more readily available in the UK and USA (known as a Biscoff biscuit / cookie).
Per 1 serving / piece:
| Amount | Ingredient | Allergens | Kcal | Carbs | Carbs of which sugars | Fat | Fat of which saturated | Protein | Fibers | Sodium | Iron | Calcium | Magnesium | Potassium | Phosphorus | Copper | Zinc | Iodine | Selenium | Vitamin C | Vitamin D | Vitamin A | Vitamin B1 | Vitamin B2 | Vitamin B6 | Vitamin B12 | Vitamin B11 | Vitamin E | Vitamin K | Vitamin K1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.5 | gram | self-raising flour | gluten | 42.88 | 8.88 g | 0.63 g | 0.13 g | 0.01 g | 1.31 g | 0.28 g | 112.50 mg | 0.09 mg | 2.38 mg | 2.50 mg | 18.75 mg | 10.00 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.08 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.01 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.02 mg | - | 1.88 µg | - | - | - |
| 8.75 | gram | brown sugar | 34.13 | 8.40 g | 8.40 g | - | - | - | - | 2.19 mg | 0.18 mg | 4.38 mg | - | 4.38 mg | 2.19 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.13 | teaspoon | gingerbread spices | 1.16 | 0.27 g | - | 0.05 g | 0.01 g | 0.02 g | 0.03 g | 0.08 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.75 mg | 0.30 mg | 1.88 mg | 0.56 mg | - | 0.01 mg | - | 0.04 µg | 0.04 mg | - | 18.75 mg | - | - | - | - | 0.15 µg | 0.01 mg | 0.38 µg | - | |
| 0.13 | pinch of | lemon zest | sulfites | 0.40 | 0.10 g | 0.03 g | - | - | - | - | 0.03 mg | - | 0.13 mg | 0.09 mg | 1.75 mg | 0.19 mg | - | - | - | - | 0.63 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.13 µg | - | - | - |
| 0.13 | pinch of | salt | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 50.00 mg | - | 0.01 mg | 0.36 mg | 0.01 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 9.38 | gram | of butter | milk | 68.91 | 0.07 g | 0.07 g | 7.73 g | 5.06 g | 0.07 g | - | 0.47 mg | 0.01 mg | 1.22 mg | 0.19 mg | 1.41 mg | 1.88 mg | - | 0.01 mg | - | - | - | 0.11 mg | 0.09 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 6.25 | gram | of dark chocolate | soy | 32.06 | 3.06 g | 3.06 g | 2.06 g | 1.26 g | 0.33 g | 0.07 g | 1.25 mg | 0.20 mg | 4.06 mg | 6.25 mg | 25.00 mg | 18.13 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.13 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.01 mg | - | - | 0.44 µg | - | - | - |
| 6.25 | gram | of milk chocolate | milk, soy | 33.81 | 3.44 g | 3.44 g | 1.97 g | 1.19 g | 0.58 g | 0.08 g | 3.63 mg | 0.14 mg | 5.31 mg | 0.25 mg | 29.38 mg | 15.00 mg | 0.08 mg | 0.01 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.01 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.01 mg | - | 0.44 µg | - | - | - |
| 6.25 | gram | of white chocolate | milk, soy | 35.00 | 3.63 g | 3.56 g | 2.08 g | 1.28 g | 0.48 g | - | 6.88 mg | 0.02 mg | 15.63 mg | 1.63 mg | 21.25 mg | 12.50 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.03 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.01 mg | 0.03 mg | - | - | 0.63 µg | - | - | - |
| 248.34 | 27.84 g | 19.19 g | 14.02 g | 8.81 g | 2.78 g | 0.45 g | 177.01 mg | 0.65 mg | 33.86 mg | 11.56 mg | 103.79 mg | 60.44 mg | 0.15 mg | 0.26 mg | - | 0.04 µg | 0.66 mg | 0.11 mg | 18.85 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.07 mg | 0.03 mg | - | 3.65 µg | 0.01 mg | 0.38 µg | - | ||||
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