Per Natale Marta prepara sempre dei biscotti al miele.

It means for Christmas or at Christmas time, depending on context.

In this sentence, Per Natale sets the occasion: this is something Marta does when Christmas comes around. It can also suggest for the Christmas holiday or for the Christmas period.

Both are possible, but they are not always felt in exactly the same way.

• a Natale often means at Christmas
• per Natale often means for Christmas or for the Christmas occasion

So Per Natale Marta prepara sempre dei biscotti al miele gives the idea that making these cookies is something connected with the Christmas occasion, possibly even in preparation for it.

In Italian, holiday names often appear without an article after a preposition in common expressions:

• a Natale
• per Natale
• a Pasqua

But in other kinds of sentences, you can use the article:

• Il Natale è una festa importante.

So the lack of an article here is normal.

Because Italian uses the present tense for habits and repeated actions, just like English does in sentences like Marta always makes...

So prepara here does not mean only something happening right now. It means this is her usual Christmas habit.

Also, prepara is the third-person singular form of preparare, because the subject is Marta.

Yes. With food, preparare very often means to make or to prepare.

So:

• prepara dei biscotti = she makes some cookies
• prepara la cena = she makes / prepares dinner

In English, makes is often the most natural translation in this kind of sentence.

Sempre means always, and in neutral Italian word order it commonly comes after the verb:

• Marta prepara sempre...

That is the most natural placement here. Italian word order is somewhat flexible, but this version sounds standard and straightforward.

Here dei is a partitive article, and it often corresponds to some in English.

So:

• dei biscotti = some cookies

Even though dei originally comes from di + i, in this sentence it does not mean of the. It is simply marking an indefinite plural noun.

Yes, you could say:

Per Natale Marta prepara sempre biscotti al miele.

That is possible, but dei biscotti sounds very natural in everyday Italian when you mean some cookies. Without dei, the sentence can sound a little more general, as if you are focusing more on the type of thing she makes.

Al miele means with honey, honey-flavored, or made with honey, depending on context.

In food expressions, this structure is very common in Italian:

• gelato al cioccolato
• torta al limone
• biscotti al miele

So biscotti al miele is the natural way to say honey cookies or cookies made with honey.

Both can be possible, but they are used a little differently.

• al miele is the more idiomatic way to describe the type or flavor
• con miele stresses that honey is an ingredient

So biscotti al miele sounds like the normal name of that kind of cookie, while biscotti con miele sounds more like you are specifically mentioning what is in them.

No. In Italian, biscotti is the general word for cookies or biscuits.

English has borrowed biscotti as the name of one particular kind of Italian cookie, but in Italian the word is much broader. So in this sentence, biscotti just means cookies/biscuits in general.

Not completely. Italian word order is more flexible than English word order. But this sentence uses a very normal, neutral pattern:

• Per Natale = time/occasion expression
• Marta = subject
• prepara = verb
• sempre = adverb
• dei biscotti al miele = object

So the sentence sounds natural and standard. Other orders are possible for emphasis, but this is the safest version for a learner.