Little shoe cookies of San Ilario

A long time ago in the city of Parma, a shoemaker, seeing Sant’Ilario traveling barefoot through the snow, took pity on him and gave the saint a pair of shoes. The next day, in the very same place where he had placed those shoes, were a pair made of gold.

The classic shape of S. Ilario's shoes are
more like laced boots, or what's called
polacchini. The ones for the festa are
usually simpler shapes, glazed in icing
& candy sprinkles or chocolate-dipped

And so continues the legend of Parma's patron saint on his designated day (the 13th) of January each year. I had wanted to attend the festival or at least to bake these for my niece but managed to do neither. It was her name day, her onomastico. What is this? In Italy, the onomastico comes recognized for all who take the name of a saint, and believe me, this equals to just about everybody! In instances where a saint's name is male (or vice versa) and there is no alternative of the opposite sex, said saint takes precedence for all who bear a likeness to the name, as in my niece's case.

I'm a little late for this but here we go anyway. So many celebrations, so little time; that's my excuse. Couple that with my wish to spend more time gardening and...alright I'll just zip it up or “Tappa la ciabatta!” (Shut your slipper!) as I like to say to Maddie when she's barking too much. Shoes? Slippers? Yeah that makes sense.

Little shoe cookies of St. Ilario

This is a very firm, crisp sugar cookie that holds up well to dunking in a glass of milk. I think the dough would also make an excellent bottom crust for florentine cookies like these (scroll down) that I had written about earlier.

3½ cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
5 oz. butter, softened to room temperature
2 whole large eggs
2 large egg yolks (reserve the whites for another use)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
grated zest of one lemon or orange

sugar icing or melted chocolate for decorating
candy sprinkles (opt.)

Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until it begins to hold together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for a few minutes until well combined. Divide into two portions, wrap in plastic and allow to rest in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to roll the cookies, first preheat oven to 375°F. Roll dough to almost 1/4 inch thick, cut into shoe shapes (I fashioned my own out of cardboard), place on parchment-lined pans and bake until golden brown around the edges, about 10-12 minutes depending on your oven. Cool completely before decorating with sugar icing or dipping into melted chocolate. Yields approximately 6 pairs of shoes.

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