The Santa Lucia shortbread cookies are delightful butter shortbread biscuits typical of the city of Verona, made on December 12 to thank Saint Lucia; indeed, they are left on the table at night with a little straw for the donkey that will help Saint Lucia deliver gifts to good children.
The Santa Lucia shortbreads are delicate and crumbly cookies in Christmas shapes, made with a classic shortcrust pastry or with hard-boiled yolks and are really easy to make.
In some areas of Northern Italy (Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna) this festival is very much celebrated; gifts are left for children just like on Christmas Eve, a magical similar ritual loved by both adults and children.
To receive gifts, children must write a letter to Saint Lucia in the early days of December and hang it outside the window so that the Saint can come and get it; on the night between December 12 and 13 they must go to bed early and close their eyes tight; they must not see her or they will receive no gifts but only coal. In the morning they will find packages to open along with lots of sweets.
The legends surrounding this tradition are numerous and many of the day’s rituals are linked to light; in the 1500s, it was believed to be the longest night of the year, associated with the exchange of gifts and the offering of sacrifices as a propitiatory gesture for the new year.
Do you love shortbread cookies and enjoy gifting them at Christmas? Here are some recipes for you:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: for 19 oz of cookies
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Saint Lucia
- Energy 483.88 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 60.11 (g) of which sugars 27.78 (g)
- Proteins 6.37 (g)
- Fat 25.18 (g) of which saturated 15.70 (g)of which unsaturated 9.22 (g)
- Fibers 1.02 (g)
- Sodium 6.97 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup butter
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsps egg yolks
- Half pod vanilla
- 1 tsp lemon zest (or grated orange)
- as needed vanilla powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 Scale
- 1 Baking sheet
- Cutters for Christmas cookies
- 1 Rolling pin
Steps
You can prepare the shortbread either by hand or in a stand mixer, choose the method you prefer. Note that the butter warms more easily by hand.
Cut the butter into small cubes and leave it at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Place the flour and cubed butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Mix on medium speed until the mixture resembles sand (many fine separate crumbs).
Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest, mix everything, then add the egg yolks and start kneading until you get a compact dough.
Work it quickly to avoid warming the butter too much, form a dough ball, wrap it in cling film, and let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
After the rest time, take the dough and work it on the countertop for 1 minute to make it pliable.
Roll the shortbread to a thickness of 1/5 inch, use various-sized Christmas cookie cutters to cut out the cookies, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake the cookies in a preheated static oven at 338°F for 12 minutes, they should cook without darkening.
Remove them from the oven, let them cool without touching them (they are very delicate and might break), and generously dust them with powdered sugar.
The Santa Lucia shortbread cookies are ready to enjoy.
Tips
Storage
The Santa Lucia shortbread cookies can be stored for two weeks in a tin box placed in a cool, dry place.
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