I am a downright compulsive cookie baker, especially around the holidays. I spend what is probably an unreasonable amount of time thinking about what makes a winter solstice cookie, rather than just a repurposed christmas cookie. I lean into sun shapes because the solstice is all about coaxing the sun to come back to us, and I have several star and moon cookies to commemorate the longest night. I am always trying to think of new and interesting ways to celebrate the solstice in cookie form though!
What are winter solstice flavors? (Google is pretty unhelpful on this point.) This is the list that I have been compiling, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on winter solstice specific flavors!
- evergreen: winter solstice screams piney, resiny flavors to me.
- citrus: oranges in particular are used to represent the sun so they seem like an obvious flavor for solstice.
- spice: this is definitely xmas adjacent, but spices definitely feel like the holidays– especially clove/orange for pomanders.
- herbs: I don’t know why herbs feel solstice-y to me– maybe because they are witchy? Particularly wintery ones like rosemary and rose hip.
Click on each cookie below to go to the recipe!
These cookies have galaxy icing, edible stars and a deep blue (natural) color. The sugar is infused with spruce for extra solstice-ishness.
These gingerbread cookies have a special evergreen spice mix and are decorated with herbal sugars!
These impressive cookies are just sugar cookies with two different flavors combined to make a magical deer mother!
Nettle Rosehip Thumbprints
Dried nettle makes these cookies green and they are filled with rose hip jam. They feel just right for Solstice.
Oranges are one of the most enduring Solstice decorations because they look like the sun. Combine that with evergreen rosemary and you have met the brief.
Moons for the longest night, chocolate and raspberry because they are indulgent and delicious, and roses for a little natural adornment.
*All of my recipes are gluten free. I will often include instructions for making them with wheat flour instead.