As the weather turns chilly and holidays approach, nothing captures all the homey feels of the season more than a nice baking session. And with the past two years bringing so much uncertainty and upheaval to the world, it’s no surprise that renewed interest in baking comfort foods has taken a front seat in the food world – from restaurant fare to good old fashioned home cooking. Last year’s predictions for this winter’s trends have rung true.

We all have our cultural, traditional and even religious food staples each holiday season, from hearty soups to roasts to cozy toddies. But there is arguably no better way to usher in the winter merriment than goodies baked from home. And the one baked item that seems to transcend culture, age and geography at this time of year is the mighty, yet humble, gingerbread man.

This bastion of holiday baking tradition dates back to the 15th century, when ginger found its natural partner in molasses. The actual pairing of those two flavors dates all the way back to ancient Greece. But it was the Europeans who really embraced it, developing the concept of gingerbread as a possible cookie.

Ultimately, it was the royals who made it popular – with Queen Elizabeth I being the one who’s credited with creating cookies shaped as people. She, apparently, took to impressing her guests and visiting dignitaries by presenting them with cookies shaped in their own likeness, offering up what appeared to be a kind of edible chess board. 

German bakers, meanwhile, were busy founding the tradition of building edible houses out of the sturdy and flavorful confection, baking cleverly intricate creations so fancy they were sometimes adorned with real gold. The original molds used by Black Forest bakers are so intricate, it is hard to imagine the craftsmanship involved.

“The details are mind boggling,” said Walter Staib, former owner of Old City’s historic City Tavern and perhaps the foremost local expert on all things Black Forest. The international consultant and host of the PBS show “A Taste of History” grew up in the storied German forest and knows all about the art of gingerbread firsthand. We can leave truffles for another day. 

And of course, Staib explained, we have the famous – or infamous – nursery story “Hansel and Gretel” to thank for gingerbread’s eventual role in the morality tale passed down to children ever since. The idea, he said, was to teach children not to trust strangers offering sweets, no matter how delectable they looked.

“They told us to stay away from strangers and people who try to give you gingerbread,” said Staib, adding that when he was a child, gingerbread was still a treat, and even after it became stale, because you could dunk it in milk. 

According to Staib, immigrant Christopher Ludwick gets the credit for bringing gingerbread to Philadelphia in the mid-18th century, as he arrived with all the intricate molds as well as the tradition. He eventually became George Washington’s baker in the Continental Army, and “taught everybody how to make gingerbread,” Staib said.  

Today, we can find gingerbread in all its forms during the holidays, from the Starbucks latte to the grocery store pound cake, said Staib. It’s 5 a.m. on a Monday and it’s 48 degrees. Where’s my gingerbread latte? Bakers say it is the spice profile that attracts us as the weather cools. Think about all the reasons we start searching for pumpkin spice lattes on Sept 1. Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger. Gingerbread is as much the definition of a winter profile as watermelon or lemonade is during the summer.

“Once the weather turns colder and people start thinking about the holidays, [gingerbread] is the same profile” as the pumpkin spice latte, said Chestnut Hill’s Night Kitchen Bakery owner Amy Edelman. “It is the cinnamon, the ginger, nutmeg and cloves. I think a lot of bakeries do it, but ours have even more of the spiciness to them.”

Edelman starts pumping out the gingerbread “people,” as she calls them, on Nov. 1, adorning them with buttons and eyes but no clothing. She keeps it simple, with a recipe that produces a shortbread-type consistency. Not crunchy, but softer. 

“We still do a lot of pumpkin pound cake and chocolate chip cookies right now,” said Edelman, but it is the gingerbread men everyone looks for year in and year out. 

Perhaps it’s the weather, or perhaps our need for tradition. Either way, it means it’s time to cozy up in front of a fire with some hot chocolate, and partake in a dessert that dates back 2,000 years – and counting.