Hildegard Cookies

The recipe for Hildegard cookies came from St. Hildegard herself, who recommended them for slowing the aging process, creating a cheerful countenance, lightening a heavy heart, and releasing intelligence.

Hildegard cookies are made by the sisters and are part of the Monastery Baked Goods line. Packaged (8 oz.) in a cellophane bag.

A remarkable woman of the Middle Ages, Hildegard was a Benedictine abbess, musician, artist, writer, and adviser to bishops, popes, and kings. As a scientist and healer, she promoted natural medicine that integrated physical, psychological, and spiritual healing. She proposed principles for a balanced diet and explored the medicinal uses of plants, animals, and trees.

Purchases of Monastery Baked Goods products help support the mission and ministries of the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana.

The history of Monastery Baked Goods is rooted in a love of baking among the sisters. In support of an annual German festival held in Ferdinand, the sisters started making and selling springerles, a traditional German cookie. Following some suggestions from friends and community members, the sisters experimented and created the recipe for almerles, almond-flavored cookies that have the appearance and texture of the springerle.

Later, the sisters decided to make cookies in honor of St. Hildegard, a twelfth-century mystic. The cookies were so popular that they also were added to the bakery’s offerings. Due to the interest generated by the cookies, Simply Divine Bakery was born. In 2015, the bakery was renamed “Monastery Baked Goods” to more closely relate the name to the Sisters of St. Benedict.

Ingredients: Flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), brown sugar, almonds, unsalted butter (pasteurized cream, natural flavorings [contains milk]), eggs, baking powder (baking soda, cornstarch, sodium aluminum sulfate, calcium sulfate, monocalcium phosphate), cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt