Santa Lucia Cookies - Pastafrolle di Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia is celebrated on the 13th of December every year. However, the fun for children starts days before as the stands selling seasonal sweets come to Piazza Bra in the center of Verona. The typical cookie during this period is, Pastafrolle di Santa Lucia.
During this period the children write letters to Santa Lucia to tell her what presents they want. Then on the evening of the 12th they have to prepare milk for Santa Lucia’s donkey and bread for Santa Lucia. The children have to be careful on the night of the 12th because when Santa Lucia comes to their house they don’t have to see her! If they have been bad during the year she’ll throw coal in their eyes. If they’ve been good they can expect a plate full of cookies and presents too.
It’s a period of goodies and gifts for children for which I have fond memories.
Ingredients:
4 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/4 cups unsalted butter
2 egg yolks
1 egg
1/2 tsp. double acting baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
powdered sugar
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
2. Cut the butter into pieces and add it to the flour and mix it into the flour. It is better if the butter is at room temperature. I just use a big fork to mix it.
3. Once the butter is been reduced to small pieces in the flour add the egg, two egg yolks and the vanilla. Mix it together until it the dough holds together.
4. Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerate for one hour.
5. Roll out the dough on a well floured work area to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.
6. Cut the the dough with your favorite cookie cutters and lay them on cookie sheets greased with butter or use oven paper to avoid the butter. Of course you can cut them in rectangular shapes if you prefer.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 325° for 20 minutes or until they start to turn slightly golden in color.
8. Once they’ve cooled dust them with powdered sugar and serve.
Notes:
This is actually a very simple cookie recipe.
Could you please tell me what is double active baking powder. I live in Australia and have only heard of baking powder.
Thanks in advance,
katherine
@Katherine: most baking powders today today are double acting which means that they have slow-acting acid and fast-acting acid. “A fast-acting acid reacts in a wet mixture with baking soda at room temperature, and a slow-acting acid will not react until heated in an oven. Baking powders that contain both fast- and slow-acting acids are double acting; those that contain only one acid are single acting. By providing a second rise in the oven, double-acting baking powders increase the reliability of baked goods by rendering the time elapsed between mixing and baking less critical…”
Read more on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder