First, she refused to say she was too busy however later that night, she saw a great light in the sky and decided to join the Wise Men and the shepherd bearing gifts that had belonged to her child who had passed away.
She relentlessly looked for Baby Jesus but got lost and never found the manger, this is just one story of the many legends that's been written.
The Feast of the Epiphany is celebrated on January 6 as a national holiday in Italy, and the tradition of La Befana is a big part of Italian Christmas celebrations.
The old woman who visits children in Italy on the eve of January 5th and on January 6th the Epiphany is celebrated similarly to the story of Santa Claus.
The woman enters children's homes through the chimney to deliver the gifts and through her visions and the loss of her child, he brings those gifts into her child's memory and feels like she became the mother of every child in Italy.
Every Epiphany Eve, the old witch is covered in black soot, from the chimney, has tattered clothes, and flies around the world on a broomstick, then comes down chimneys to deliver candy and presents to children that have been good all year.
To those who were naughty, she left coal so we have included both cookie recipes we make for this traditional legend to celebrate and recognize La Befana on this traditional day.
Traditional Star Cookies for La Befana
This basic butter cookie dough works very well for cutouts and the traditional cookie to celebrate the day is the star cookie either lightly glazed or sprinkled with candies.
We make this recipe with all different cutout shapes, however, the traditional cookie for January 6th is the star cutout cookie.
These are not traditional sugar cookies that get hard, these stay soft.
Our favorite recipes during the holiday baking season.
They even taste great unfrosted!
Shopping List for La Befana
- all-purpose flour
- pinch of salt
- butter, room temperature
- powdered sugar
- pure vanilla extract or another flavor you prefer
Suggestions and Tips
- mix-in colorful sprinkles in the dough (around 1/2 cup) and sprinkle sugar on top instead of frosting
- use a religious cookie cutter IE: holy cross
- keep the dough from drying out by using powdered sugar instead of flour for rolling and cutting
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Christmas Cutout Butter Cookies
Yield: 22
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 8 MinTotal time: 18 Min
These are a soft dough that makes the perfect butter sugar cookies for any time of the year especially around the holiday/
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Frosting Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
- food coloring optional
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1/3 butter
- 2 tablespoons dry milk
Instructions
- Cookie Batter
- Mix all together and refrigerate overnight or for at least one hour.
- Roll out cut into shapes of your choice and bake on a greased cookie sheet
- Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.
- For the frosting:
- Beat all ingredients until smooth, add more water if too stiff, this needs to spread easily.
- Immediately decorate with sprinkles or candies on top, the frosting will dry quickly.
- Let cookies dry on wax paper
- For tinting:
- Separate into bowls coordinate food coloring and flavoring in each bowl. Frost cookies and let dry for about an hour.
- Sprinkles: add 1/2 cup of colorful sprinkles to the batter and mix evenly. After cutting the cookie shapes, add granulated sugar on top of each one. No frosting is needed.
Calories
268.77Fat (grams)
18.85Sat. Fat (grams)
9.74Carbs (grams)
23.87Fiber (grams)
0.31Net carbs
23.57Sugar (grams)
14.94Protein (grams)
1.41Sodium (milligrams)
83.45Cholesterol (grams)
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