Befanini

A festive sugar cookie to celebrate "La Befana"

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 final and most important holiday of the season was still to come: January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. As the saying goes, L'Epifania tutte le feste si porta via, or Epiphany carries all the holidays away.

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 so 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.

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Upcoming Substack Lives

I took a break from Substack Lives in December for the holidays (and a kitchen remodel), but I’ve got two Lives coming up in January and February.

In January, I’ll be live with Michele Becci of Our Italian Table to talk about favorite warming winter soups. And maybe even whip one up… It’ll be Michele’s first ever Live so I trust you’ll all show her some love.

And in February, I’ll be back at it with Giovanna Solimando of My Half Apulian Table to continue our discussion on Italian fruits and vegetables. This time we’ll be focusing on our favorite fruits. Our Live back in November on Italian veggies was a fan favorite, and I’m betting this one will be, too.

I’ll share more information on both Lives in upcoming posts.

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Brutti ma buoni

Brutti ma buoni, meaning “ugly but good”, is the jocular name Italians give to these nut and meringue cookies originally from north-central Italy (their precise origin is disputed) but now popular all over the country.

The recipe is simple enough, though you need to take some care so they come out just right. You fold roughly ground hazelnuts or almonds (or a mix of both) into a soft meringue made with egg whites and sugar. You then reduce this mixture over a low flame until it forms a sticky “dough”, which you then drop in spoonfuls on a cookie sheet. Then they bake in a low oven for about 20-25 minutes.

I have to admit, the rather lumpy and misshapen cookies that emerge from your oven might well deserve to be called ugly. But they are also definitely good. Very good, in fact, when properly made. Crispy on the outside and delightfully soft and chewy on the inside, I find them downright addictive.

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Cantucci

Cantucci, also known as biscotti di Prato, are perhaps the best known of Italian cookies. Made from a simple dough of flour, sugar and egg, into which whole almonds are folded, they are baked twice: once in cylindrical ‘logs’ to cook on the outside, then cut into sliced and baked again to cook on the inside and dry out. (The most common Italian word for cookie is indeed biscotto which means twice cooked.)

These cookies are rather hard and dry, but that’s the way they actually should be. Cantucci are classically served as a dessert, paired with the Tuscan dessert wine called vin santo for dunking. The cantucci readily soak up the wine, softening them. The flavor combination is wonderful.

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Taralli dolci or “Nana’s Cookies”

This is a recipe near and dear to my heart. It was one of Angelina’s signature dishes. When I was a kid, our family called these “Nana’s Cookies”, and I really thought that only my nana made them. Well, just as I found out that the honey balls Angelina made for Christmas were actually called struffoli, it turns out that these ring-shaped cookies are a Campanian delicacy called taralli dolci, or sweet taralli.

Taralli dolci are typically eaten at breakfast with your morning coffee, or for a sweet mid-afternoon snack. They also go well with sweet wine, as a light dessert. In either case, they are perfect for dipping into your beverage.

These cookies are quite easy to make, especially if you have a standing mixer, taking no more than an hour from start to finish. They last a good week in a glass or metal container, so you can make them over the weekend and enjoy them with your morning coffee for the rest of the week—assuming, that is, you can pace yourself…