Muisjes are aniseed seeds coated in a hard shell of sugar. The name means "little mice", and the usual explanation is that a coated seed, with its small stalk, looks like a tiny mouse with a tail. They are eaten on a beschuit — a round, dry Dutch rusk — spread with butter, and they are tied almost entirely to one occasion: the birth of a baby. The word Muisjes is a registered trademark of Koninklijke De Ruijter, the firm that has made them since the nineteenth century.
Beschuit met muisjes
After a birth in the Netherlands, family, friends and neighbours who come to see the baby are offered beschuit met muisjes. New parents also take them to work or school to share the news. The colour tells the guests the baby's sex: pink and white for a girl, blue and white for a boy. Anise is traditionally said to have been chosen because it was believed to help the mother's milk supply and keep bad spirits away; these are folk explanations rather than documented history. The custom itself is distinctively Dutch and largely unknown elsewhere.
| Variant | Use |
|---|---|
| Roze en wit (pink and white) | Birth of a girl |
| Blauw en wit (blue and white) | Birth of a boy |
| Oranje en wit (orange and white) | Royal births and national occasions |
| Gestampte muisjes | Crushed, white; an everyday bread topping |
How they are made
Coating seeds in sugar is an old technique: sugared anise, fennel and coriander were eaten in wealthy European households from at least the sixteenth century, partly as digestives. Modern muisjes are made by sieving aniseed and coating it in rotating copper pans with repeated sprays of sugar, glucose syrup and powdered sugar until a round shell has built up. The coated seeds are dried for about a day and a half to harden, and finished with a little carnauba wax for shine. The pink colour traditionally comes from carmine and the blue from indigotine.
De Ruijter
De Ruijter was founded in 1860 by Cornelis Rutger de Ruijter, who ran a bakery in Baarn and sold muisjes there. The firm became a royal purveyor in 1883 and received the "Koninklijk" (Royal) title at its 125th anniversary in 1985. It was acquired by CSM in 1983, passed to Heinz in 2001 and so became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015; production moved from Baarn to Utrecht in 2007. Besides muisjes, De Ruijter makes hagelslag, vruchtenhagel, anijshagel and chocolate flakes.
Gestampte muisjes
Crushed muisjes — gestampte muisjes — are a separate, everyday product: white only, sprinkled on buttered bread like hagelslag, with a stronger aniseed taste because the seeds are broken open. They carry none of the birth symbolism.