Nerve cookies by hildegard von bingen

Nerve cookies are an apt name for the healing little balls that are made of spelt flour and full of spices. These “nervous” cookies based on original recipe of Saint Hildegard von Bingen – a centuries-old recipe, as the name itself suggests, is not only tasty, but also soothing for the soul and nervous system. It is not aimed for munching, it is aimed for healing purposes for your nervous system.

Original recipe is the following:


Saint Hildegard described the recipe for nervous cookies as follows:
“Take nutmeg, an equal part of cinnamon bark and a smaller amount of cloves. Turn it into a powder, mix it with fine flour and water to make biscuits. Eat them often to calm the bitterness in your heart, open your senses, purify your spirit and bring joy to your voice.” This is the original text from her book and we need to translate it into today’s language.


How beautiful is that? Transforming her wisdom into a modern kitchen translation…


👉 Recipe:

  • 1 tspoon of nutmeg (in powder)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon (in powder)
  • ½ tsp cloves (in powder)
  • 100g (3.5oz) white/wholemeal spelt flour – what the pantry can provide
  • 14–16 teaspoons of water

Knead the dough, roll it into small balls, flatten them on a baking sheet and bake at 170°C/330 Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes. They must be baked like cookies. Let them cool before eating and do not eat more than 5 a day.

These scones have a short shelf life, so I store them in the freezer for freshness. They are flavorful. If you would like more spice in these scones,add proportionally and see what works for you. This is the original recipe, by being so simple and flavorful just makes a person want to not eat too much of it. I believe it is also the purpose of this recipe to eat just the right amount and follow the Hildegard ´s Discretio.

I consider this recipe to be more of a treat compared to a sweet cake, which although it has the ingredients from the original recipe, is different.
Adding different ingredients turns the nervous cookies into biscuits, which one tends to eat over and over.

Nerve cookie recipe with butter and co .


Often on the net you will come across a recipe like this, or similar, where butter, sugar, eggs, almonds and others are used. For example:
30 grams / 1 ounce of the above spice mixture – cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg
500 grams/ 17.6 ounce of spelt flour
70 grams / 2,5 ounce of ground almonds
200 grams/7,05 ounce of butter
130 grams/ 4,5 ounce of sugar or other sweetener
2 large eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Mix the mixture, if it is too dry add 3+ tablespoons of cold water and place the dough in the fridge overnight after kneading until smooth. The next day, roll out and cut out different shapes of nearly the same size and bake at 160 degrees /320 Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the shapes.

Although the spice mix has a large representation, you will get very tasty biscuits and it is difficult to stop eating them. Therefore, make a smaller batch please.

Which one is better – original or butter and co version?

Well, the biscuits in their original form serve their purpose – they strengthen and restore your nervous system and you will not be tempted to eat more than 5 per day, as the spices are pretty intense. On the other hand, the recipe with sugar, eggs, butter and co is tasty, but you will get less amount of spices into your body unless you eat a bigger quantity which I do not recommend.

you choose your favourite…


I follow exactly what Hildegard wrote in her books and prefer to omit extra butter, eggs and sugar in my diet as it is the way I want to live… but you can choose your favourite recipe and let me know how it was …

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