Do you know a lot of old witches flying astride a broomstick with an angelic smile instead of typical wickedness?
Her name is Befana. She is an old Italian lady, and she is our surprise guest this week on 196 flavors! But who is Befana anyway?
On January 6th, Italy, as many other countries, will be celebrating Epiphany and in Italy, Epiphany is called Befana.
The biblical date of Epiphany is January 6, but since that day is not a holiday, it is typically celebrated on the first Sunday after January 1. The date is variable. Every year it takes place on the first Sunday of January, unless that Sunday falls on New Year’s Day, in which case, Epiphany will be held on the second Sunday in January.
Epiphany has a different symbolic meaning depending on the churches. For the Roman Catholic Church, Epiphany celebrates the visit of the three Kings (Magi), Melchior, Balthazar and Gaspar, who came to bring gifts to the infant Jesus.
The Orthodox Church commemorates Christ’s baptism in the Jordan and the manifestation of the Divine Trinity, which is the etymological sense of the word Epiphany since the word comes from the Greek which means “appearance” or “manifestation”.
Finally, for the Armenian Apostolic Church, January 6 is one of the most important holidays because it celebrates the nativity. Moreover, only the Armenian Christians have kept a single holiday and therefore also celebrate Christmas on that same day.
But back to Befana and Italy. In Italian, Befana is both the name of the feast of Epiphany and the name of a very good witch.
Befana, formerly called Stria (hag or witch) is the name of an old peasant lady. She had lost her husband, she had never had a child, and she lived in a tiny house on the village square. Since she was alone and she was a little bored, she often looked at what was happening outside.
Legend has it that she met the Wise Kings one day as they were laden with gifts for the infant Jesus on the way to Bethlehem. They offered her to follow them but she refused only to regret a few hours later. She then filled a bag of cookies and dried fruits and went to look for them. But she never found the Magi, despite her relentless search. This is also why Befana is always represented with torn and worn shoes.
After failing to find the baby Jesus, she then decided to offer the presents she had planned for him to all the children she met.
Since that day, she has been full of remorse and been moving astride her broomstick from house to house giving sweets to the children in the hope that one of them would be baby Jesus.
This is during the night of January 5 to 6 that Befana is expected to stop by in Italy. Italian children leave large woolen socks hanging from the fireplace where Befana will deposit gifts and sweets for good children who are asleep, and for those who are not, she will deposit coal. Yes, coal ! This is where this other Italian specialty served during Epiphany comes from: Carbone dolce della Befana (sweet coal of Befana).
In Italy, little cookies are prepared in tribute to the Befana. Italian housewives would prepare those cookies for Befana to nibble on between two deliveries.
Those cookies have been lovingly named befanini. This is the recipe I chose to prepare today.
- 4 cups flour
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter , soft
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 5 eggs
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons rum
- Small multicolored sprinkles
- Mix the eggs and sugar until frothy.
- Add the butter, flour, milk, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and rum (optional).
- Mix all the ingredients to obtain a smooth dough.
- Let stand 45 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Spread the dough with a rolling pin to about 1/3 inch and cut into various shapes using cookie cutters.
- Place the cookies on a buttered and floured baking sheet or lined with parchment paper and brush them with egg yolk.
- Sprinkle with sugar sprinkles.
- Bake for about 15 minutes.
- Monitor the color of befanini as they must not be too dark.
Serena | Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch says
These cookies remind me of my Granny. She always made similar ones with sprinkles for the holidays! Love em!
Mike Benayoun says
You should make them for the Epiphany. They are not difficult to make 😉
Linda (Meal Planning Maven) says
Your cookies are beautiful Mike! And I so enjoyed reading your post…
Cindy @ Hun... What's for Dinner? says
These are gorgeous cookies! My mother always waits until the epiphany to take her Christmas tree down.
Maria says
My grandparents had this tradition too. We still follow this.
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
These sound great and look so festive! Growing up in an Italian household, I always love hearing of “La Befana.”
Susie Gall says
I love this post and I love your cookies. Years ago while visiting Monterey, California, I bought a Christmas character and she had came with a broomstick. I purchased her because she was so sweet looking, but the name on her was Christmas Witch. I never knew the complete story until now. Thank you so much for sharing the story and your recipe – I can’t wait to try them.
dorothy pecora says
My cookies came out looking just like the picture. However, the texture is brittle – like a biscuit and not very sweet. Is this how they are supposed to be?
Véra says
Hey Dorothy, glad you tried them! Yes, the cookies are slightly brittle. I am surprised you didn’t find them sweet with one cup of sugar ?
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Katie says
What a sweet story! Thanks for sharing! We are having our family baking day today and decided to give these a try. I am finding that they are very hard to roll out as they are extremely sticky. I let the dough refrigerate for over an hour and a half thinking that would give it time to firm up and make it easier to roll out. I coated it quite a bit with flour and decided to put it back in the fridge and split it into two pieces of dough. Any recommendations other than that?
Mike Benayoun says
Hey Katie, so glad you are trying those for the holidays! What you did is fine. Maybe add a little more flour. Keep in mind all flours are different, and the baking conditions can also affect such recipes. This is the reason why it’s important to adjust this type of recipe with more or less flour or liquid/water. Enjoy!
Joanne says
I’m married 42 years and have been making a similar type cookie every Christmas. They were my Aunt who was Italian, recipe. I think the difference is the amount of eggs used compared to other butter cookies. The recipes calls for coating the cookies with beaten egg white before the sugar crystals, but I omit that steps and the sugar still sticks, cookies are just not as shiny. I used a floured pasty cloth for rolling out and cutting out the sticky dough. I also usually divide the dough into six flat discs and refrigerate overnight. I keep the other discs in the refrigerator and work on one at a time. Here is a picture for my cookies
https://pin.it/tpf76dypwvfifq
Mike Benayoun says
Wow, thanks so much for sharing Joanne! Your cookies look beautiful and I am sure they are tasty as well.
Barbara Sheffield says
Is the butter salted or unsalted? I want to try these this year for our Christmas cut outs.
Mike Benayoun says
Hey Barbara, it is unsalted butter. Just updated the recipe to make it clear. Enjoy and Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Angela says
Can you substitute the rum with anything else?
Mike Benayoun says
Sure Angela. You can either omit or use vanilla essence instead. Enjoy!