As you’re reading this, if you happen to live in the English speaking world, you are probably thinking the holidays are over. You may be busy making your New Year’s resolutions and getting back to normal life. And maybe suffering from a slight bout of the post holiday blues?
Well, in Italy, the holiday season is still going strong. Back in the day, in fact, the most important holiday of the season was still to come: January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. The feast is popularly known as La Befana, after the eponymous witch who—very much like Santa Claus—visits homes, riding on her broomstick rather than a sleigh, bringing sweets and other goodies to all the good little children and coal for the naughty ones.
Like most Italian holidays, La Befana is celebrated with a festive meal. But perhaps because it’s focused on children, most of the dishes associated with the holiday are sweet ones, including the lovely sugar cookies from Tuscany called Befanini.
Befanini are quick and easy to make. Typically cut into festive shapes and topped colorful sprinkles, they delight children and adults alike. So why not take a cue from the Italians and stretch your holiday season for just a few more days? It’s a lovely way to wrap up the holiday season in dolcezza, as the Italians say, literally as well as figuratively.
Ingredients
Makes about 25 cookies
- 250g (1/2 lb) flour
- 125g (4-1/2 oz) granulate sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- a small pinch of salt
- 100g (3-1/2 oz) butter, softened
- 1 egg
- A jigger of rum or anisette
- zest of one orange or lemon
- milk, as needed
For topping the cookies:
- 1 egg white
- Sprinkles
Directions
In a large bowl, food processor or standing mixer, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Then add the egg, butter, rum, zest and enough milk, as needed, to form a smooth and pliable ball of dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap (cling film) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a thin sheet, not more than 5mm (1/4 inch). Cut the dough into festive shapes using cookie cutters. Gather up the scraps and form them back into a ball, then roll it out and cut it into more cookies. Repeat until you’ve used up all the dough.
Gingerly place the cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with egg white, then sprinkle them with the sprinkles.
Bake in a moderate oven (180C/350F) oven for about 12-15 minutes, until puffed up and cooked through. Take care not to brown them too much.
Notes on Befanini
Befanini aren’t terribly hard to make. And I say that as someone who is not a baker by instinct or practice. You really only need to bear a few points in mind so they come out perfectly light in color and keep their festive shapes.
Don’t overbrown
First, take care not to overbrown your befanini in the oven. It won’t be the end of the world unless you actually burn them, but befanini are at their best when only very lightly brown. On the other hand, you do want to cook them through, of course. I usually designate one befanino as my test cookie, which I taste for doneness at the low end of the cooking range. If they’re still underdone, I put the cookies back in the oven for another few minutes.
Handle the dough with care
Like many cookie doughs, the dough for befanini tends to be a bit sticky, so flour your surface and rolling pin to avoid it sticking to them. And proceed with due dispatch once you’ve taken the dough out of the fridge, since it becomes difficult to handle as it reaches room temperature. If this happens to you, just put it back in the fridge for a spell and then continue.
Much of the charm of Befanini lies in the different festive shapes—stars, snowflakes, candy canes and so on—you cut them into, so ideally you’ll want a set of holiday themed cookie cutters. And do take care when transferring them from your cutting surface to the cookie sheet lest they become misshapen. If you have one, you can use a dough scraper to get the job done. And if they stick to the cookie cutter, it’s best to place the cutter with the dough still in it on to the baking sheet, then gingerly press the dough down to dislodge it from the cutter.
Variations
While the basic set of ingredients is pretty consistent across recipes, of course there are some variations, in particular in how much butter and sugar to add to the dough. Once you’ve made them once or twice, you can play with both to suit your taste.
Some recipes substitute oil for the butter. And some omit the liqueur in favor of vanilla. Others call for both. The anise flavored Sassolino is another popular liqueur for making befanini, as is, apprpriately enough, Strega. At least one I’ve seen calls for the crimson Tuscan liqueur called alkermes, used among other ways in zuppa inglese, which turns the befanini red.
In one intriguing version, said to be the original one, the befanini are filled with homemade marzipan. Sounds delicious but probably a bit elaborate for most home cooks.
As with any cookie recipe, some reverse the order found in this post and have you mix the wet ingredients first, then add the dry. Either way works, of course. I just find it more intuitive to start with the dry ones.
In some recipes, you brush the cookies with whole egg, will give the cookies a golden hue rather than the snowy white.
Making Befanini ahead
You can make Befanini the day before or even several days ahead. Keep them in a box and they should keep for a week. They will get drier and crunchier, which I actually better.
The La Befana tradition
There is much debate over the origins of the La Befana tradition with an ugly old witch as its slightly frightening but ultimately benign central figure. Many say it has pagan roots as there are similar figures in pre-Christian Germany, Greek, Anatolian and Slavic mythology. Others point out that gift giving in ancient Roman was a feature of the new year’s celebration in honor of the goddess Strenia. Just like La Befana celebrations today, her holiday was observed by consuming sweets like figs, dates and honey.
Until relatively recent times, La Befana was a more important holiday than Christmas itself, certainly for kids, since it was on January 6 when they got their toys and other goodies. And it makes sense liturgically, since it was on Epiphany that tradition holds the magi brought gifts to infant Jesus. Over time, as elsewhere in the Western world, Babbo Natale (Father Christmas) stole some of the limelight.
That said, La Befana is still very much a thing. Children hang stockings before bed on the evening of January 5, for La Befana to fill with sweets or coal on her nocturnal fight. And just as it’s customary to leave milk and cookies out for Santa Claus, Italians will set out food for La Befana. Only she gets red wine and savory or sweet foods instead.
La scopetta scacciaguai
Besides her gift giving role, La Befana also brings good luick and well being in the New Year. Or at least she plays a role in keeping bad stuff at bay. Popular around the season are festive little brooms called scopette scacciaguai. You can see ours in the photos for this post. You hang them up around the house to chase troubles away—the literal meaning of the scacciaguai.
For more background on the holidays, take a gander at this adorable video:
Befanini
Equipment
- 1 set of Christmas themed cookie cutters
Ingredients
- 250 g flour
- 125 g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- a small pinch of salt
- 100 g butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 jigger rum or anisette
- 1 orange or lemon, zest of
- milk as needed
For topping the cookies:
- 1 egg white
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- In a large bowl, food processor or standing mixer, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Then add the egg, butter, rum, zest and enough milk, as needed, to form a smooth and pliable ball of dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap (cling film) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a thin sheet, not more than 5mm (1/4 inch). Cut the dough into festive shapes using cookie cutters. Gather up the scraps and form them back into a ball, then roll it out and cut it into more cookies. Repeat until you’ve used up all the dough.
- Gingerly place the cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with egg white, then sprinkle them with the sprinkles.
- Bake in a moderate oven (180C/350F) oven for about 12-15 minutes, until puffed up and cooked through. Take care not to brown them too much.
Nutrition
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I always tend to bake my sugar cookies way too brown. These look fantastic with colourful sprinkles.