Epiphany Cookies

The housewives of the Garfagnana valley above the oil-producing city of Lucca in northwest Italy bake these crisp little cookies for January 6, the Feast of Epiphany, the day when Mediterranean children receive their presents from la befana, the Epiphany witch. On the eve of the feast, children go around in disguise and masked—dressed as witches, wolves, devils, and other monsters—and knock on doors to ask for a treat. Befana cookies are not of any particular shape, although s