Christmas Gingerbread Men, or “Mummeli”

This is one of the earliest types of gingerbread that I have come across in Pennsylvania Dutch cookery. The basic recipe was brought to America in the eighteenth century by immigrants from Hessia. Mummeli are still baked in the New Berlin area of Union County and other parts of central Pennsylvania.

Traditionally, Mummeli are made with spelt and barley flours, which create a distinct texture and flavor; the mix was once believed to impart certain magical properties to