Honey at Christmas: 8 Holiday Traditions from Around the World

Long before sugar was cheap and easy to find, honey was the sweetness of celebrations. So it's no surprise that many of the world's oldest Christmas traditions are built around it. As beekeepers, we love seeing how a jar of honey turns into so many different holiday treats from one country to the next. Here are eight of our favourite Christmas traditions made with honey, each with a recipe if you'd like to try it at home, and a few ideas to bring a taste of them to your own table this year.

1. Ukraine: kutia, the first dish of Christmas Eve

Photo: Rakoon / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

On Christmas Eve, Ukrainian families sit down to Sviata Vecheria, the Holy Supper: twelve meatless dishes, traditionally served once the first star appears in the sky. Many families celebrate it on December 24, while others, including many in Canada, keep the January 6 date of the older Julian calendar.

The first dish is always kutia, a sweet dish of cooked wheat berries mixed with ground poppy seeds and honey, often with walnuts and raisins. Each ingredient carries meaning: the wheat for life and a good harvest, the poppy seeds for abundance, and the honey for a sweet year ahead. In many homes, everyone at the table tastes a spoonful before the meal can continue.

Try it: Kutia (sweet wheat berry pudding) from Natasha's Kitchen

2. Slovakia: Christmas wafers with honey (and garlic)

Christmas Eve wafers. Photo: Mario Carvajal / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

In Slovakia, the Christmas Eve supper (Štedrý večer, the "generous evening") often begins with oblátky, thin round wafers pressed with Christmas pictures. They are eaten with honey, sometimes drizzled between two wafers like a little sandwich. In many families they come with a clove of garlic too: the garlic for protection in the year ahead, the honey for a sweet life. Some families even trace a small cross of honey on each person's forehead as a blessing before the meal.

Try it: the wafers are baked in special irons, so most families buy them ready made (look for them in Slovak, Polish or Eastern European shops in December) and simply add honey at the table. To see how they're made by hand, read Making Christmas wafers with a Slovak grandmother, from The Slovak Spectator.

3. Poland: Toruń gingerbread

Photo: Marcin Floryan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)

The city of Toruń, on the Vistula River, has been baking pierniki (honey gingerbread) since at least 1380, when a local baker first appears in the records. The honey came from beekeepers in the surrounding countryside, and spices arrived along the trade routes. Toruń gingerbread became so famous that an old Polish saying lists it among the four best things in the country, and a gingerbread company founded there in 1763 is still baking today. At Christmas, pierniki fill Polish homes, often glazed, filled with plum jam or hung on the tree as decorations.

Try it: Pierniczki (Polish honey gingerbread cookies) from Wholly Tasteful

4. Germany: Lebkuchen from Nuremberg

Photo: Maja Dumat / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Lebkuchen, also called Honigkuchen ("honey cakes"), are the spiced cookies of German Christmas markets. Lebkuchen bakers were already working in Nuremberg in 1395, helped by the honey gathered in the forests around the city and the spices that passed through its markets. Local history says that in 1487, Emperor Frederick III gave Lebkuchen bearing his portrait to almost four thousand of the city's children.

Today, only gingerbread made inside the city can be sold as Nürnberger Lebkuchen, a name protected in the European Union since 1996. The finest kind, Elisenlebkuchen, must contain at least 25% nuts and very little flour, which makes them rich, soft and nutty.

Try it: Authentic German Lebkuchen (Elisenlebkuchen) from The Daring Gourmet

5. Provence, France: black and white nougat

Black nougat. Photo: Véronique Pagnier / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

In Provence, Christmas Eve ends with the famous treize desserts, thirteen desserts that stand for Jesus and the twelve apostles. The exact list changes from family to family, but two honey sweets are almost always there: nougat noir, a hard, dark nougat of honey cooked with almonds, and nougat blanc, a soft white nougat made with honey, whipped egg whites and nuts. The pair is often said to stand for the good and the hard days of the year, sitting side by side on the table.

Try it: Black nougat with lavender honey from the Provence Verte tourist office (in French)

6. Spain: turrón

Soft and hard turrón. Photo: La.blasco / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

No Spanish Christmas table is complete without turrón. The two classic styles both come from the town of Jijona, near Alicante: turrón de Alicante, a hard, crunchy bar of honey, sugar and egg white set around whole roasted almonds, and turrón de Jijona, a soft, crumbly version made with ground almonds. Both have been protected in the European Union since 1996, and the top grade of each must contain at least 10% honey and well over half almonds.

Try it: Turrón de Jijona (soft almond nougat) from The Things We'll Make

7. Italy: struffoli from Naples

Photo: Enzo Rippa / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In Naples, Christmas means struffoli: tiny balls of sweet fried dough tossed in warm honey, piled into a mound or a wreath and decorated with candied fruit and colourful sprinkles. Families often make huge batches to share with friends and neighbours. A local story says the nuns of Naples' convents once made them as Christmas gifts for noble families. Other regions have their own cousins: in Abruzzo, the same honey balls are called cicerchiata.

Try it: Struffoli from Sip and Feast

8. Greece: melomakarona

Photo: Alexander Baxevanis / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

In Greece, the holidays smell like melomakarona: soft cookies made with olive oil, orange, cinnamon and cloves, soaked in a honey syrup while still warm and sprinkled with chopped walnuts. The name starts with meli, the Greek word for honey. Since the traditional recipe has no eggs or butter, they suit the Christmas fasting period that many Greek families keep. They usually share the holiday platter with kourabiedes, butter cookies dusted in icing sugar.

Try it: Melomakarona (Greek honey cookies) from The Mediterranean Dish

Bring a taste of these traditions home

Almost all of these recipes depend on the flavour of the honey, so a good raw honey makes a real difference. A few ideas from our kitchen:

• For kutia, struffoli or nougat: our Wildflower Honey brings a rounded, floral flavour.
• For melomakarona syrup: our Lemon & Cardamom Honey already has the citrus and spice notes these cookies love.
• For Lebkuchen or pierniki: stir some Whipped Honey into the dough, or simply spread it on a slice of spice cake.
• If your honey has crystallized: warm the jar gently in warm water before cooking. We explain how in Why Natural Honey Crystallizes.

Looking for more ideas for the holidays? See our 12 Christmas dinner recipes and drinks made better with honey, or browse our Holiday Gift Guide.

Frequently asked questions

Why is honey used so much in Christmas sweets?

For centuries, honey was the main sweetener in much of Europe, long before sugar was cheap. It was precious, kept well through the winter and carried a symbolic meaning of sweetness and abundance, which made it a natural choice for the most important feast of the year.

Which honey is best for holiday baking?

A liquid raw honey with a balanced flavour, like wildflower honey, works in almost any recipe. Spiced or flavoured honeys can add an extra note to syrups and glazes.

Can I use crystallized honey in these recipes?

Yes. Warm the jar gently in a bowl of warm water until it's liquid again, then measure. Crystallized honey isn't spoiled; it's completely natural.

Can children eat these honey treats?

Children over one year old can enjoy honey. Never give honey to babies under 12 months, even when it's baked into a recipe.

Merry Christmas from our hives

However your family celebrates, we hope a little honey finds its way to your table this year. Come taste our raw Quebec honey in person at one of our Christmas markets, discover our Quebec honey collection or our Christmas Hive Gift Box, and tell us about your own honey traditions at info@mielbrut.com or on Instagram (@mielbrut_com).

Recipes are on other websites and are in English unless noted. Dish photos come from Wikimedia Commons and are used under the licence shown under each photo.