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According to some scientists, Licitar comes from the German word – lebzelter – drawn from the Latin word libum, that meant a cake intended for offering. The symbol of honey in ancient cults was very visible because it was believed to be possessed with a special attribute in communicating between the world of the living and the world of the dead i.e. this world and other world. In Serbian traditional culture, honey also enjoyed a special place in the cult of the dead, as well as during holidays that ritually connected the living and the dead.
The honey cookies, however, are mentioned in a broader context in the 12th century and their baking is connected with monastic life because monks were known to raise bees and extract honey, and beekeepers often settled on monastery lands. Besides, making honey cookies was very popular during the time of some Christian holidays when they were presented as Christmas and New Year’s gifts.
Licitars cookie-makers have always been active in the Balkan cultural milieu, where they were also engaged as wax chandlers. Therefore it is customary to refer to wax goods along with Licitar bakers. It seems that this craft arrived to Serbia from two directions i.e. the south, with knowledge acquired from Greek artisans skillful with waxwork, and from the north, from Austrian and German artisans who were skillful honeycookie makers. Early records about the development of Licitar cookies baked in today’s Serbia takes us back to the 18th century. Licitar cookie baking was considered, along with wax craftsmanship, a very lucrative craft, for which reason it was often referred to as the "golden craft".
The first Licitar makers appeared in commercially developed centres, artisan and urban trade quarters. Archival records show that, for example, Licitar makers were mentioned as artisans in the town of Ruma in the 1760s and 1770s, while the first craftsman Šmit Mihalj came to Subotica in 1769, and according to these sources there were also three artisans in Zemun from 1784 to 1799. It is also recorded that besides these Licitar makers, in 1793 there were three of them in Novi Sad.
Zemun, Novi Sad, Subotica and Ruma were developed trading-handicraft centres in the 18th century that had been well-known for processing wax and honey beginning in the 17th century, during the time of Turkish rule. Licitar craftsmanship was a field of work done by wax-chandlers who were also successful at honey-processing and honey-cookie making. According to archival sources, Serbian artisans were more engaged in wax processing and candle selling while Hungarian and German artisans were skillful honey-cookie makers. Therefore, Licitar cookie making is attributed to the influence of German colonists who initially developed this craftsmanship in parts of southern Hungary, and later the skill spread south of the Sava and the Danube into other towns of Serbia.
 Licitar cookies were originally baked in special moulds that were made of hardwood, usually pear or apple, in different sizes and with various images. Images on the moulds were made so that they left a relief on the baked cookies. The different sizes and shapes of images are connected with the role of Licitar cookies. Wooden moulds served to make the so-called yellow cakes, which were used in their original form until World War One. Yellow cake, or honey cake, was made of nokson, diluted and re-boiled honey, flour and eggs. A little white dough, made with flour mixed with potash and sugar, was added to the dough to make the cake fluffy, and during kneading it was sprinkled with yellow flour called curcuma (turmeric). The dough was made in great quantities and baked according to needs. The prepared dough was then squeezed into a greased and floured mould. The baked cookies were decorated.
The cookies, prepared for selling, were also given as presents to children or adults. This present did not just have a symbolic meaning, but was also a sign of respect and sympathy for the receiver. The cookie was usually given as a sign of affection towards a person. They were bought at village fairs, gatherings, on All Souls’ Days and other mass gatherings.
These cookies could be of different shapes and could be decorated with various images, but they were mostly shaped like anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figures and motifs include religious messages, or were ergomorphic. Men were generally given a cookie with a horseman, the so-called hussar; a horse, pipe, pistol: women were usually given a cookie shaped for a female; a doll, hen in a nest, or for girls it was a swaddled infant, while elders were given an angel, a cross, a figure of a saint and the like.
 The most popular and recognisable shape today is the Licitar heartshaped cookie depicting the figure of a man in a Baroque outfit – with long hair, a hat with a small brim, dressed in a longer coat with a fur collar and braided in front, in striped trousers. The figure is placed on a pedestal. The female figure is often dressed in a folk costume, with a high cap on her head that is bordered with a wide band from which a tassel hangs over the right side of the face; her hair is wavy, usually falling to the shoulders, with a cross hanging from her neck, her dress tailored to stress the waist, and a sleeveless jacket embroidered with a braid. She was shown wearing an apron in front. Her legs are not proportional to the body, they are small and turned aside, and the figure is placed on a pedestal. The figure of swaddled infant was also a frequent image on honey cookies –it is oval, and on its head was a lace-decorated cap, on the upper part was a striped cloth while the swaddle was wrapped diagonally and ornamented, and had a tied ribbon on its lower half as a large decoration. The figure of the horseman is often made so that a horse is depicted with a slightly lifted front leg. The pedestal on which it stands is decorated with floral motifs.
Besides giving Licitar cookies as gifts to dear persons, many customs foresee presenting Liciter cookies in winter. The most popular time for presenting honey cookies – Licitar goods – is during the time of great festivities.
These goods have now lost popularity and they lost their symbolic meaning long ago. Licitar goods in recent years are mostly sold at stalls in village fairs during holidays and are presented only to children.
However, as of recently, these traditional, decorated, gay and fanciful cookies are becoming increasingly popular among tourists that tend to simply grab them when displayed, discovering in them the magic of bygone times, chastity and simple joys. | 
