Christmas Shortbread

How we make it.

2 sticks Kerrygold butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups flour
4 ounces white chocolate, melted
1/2 cup peppermint candy, crushed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a hand mixer combine room temperature butter, sugar and vanilla. Stir in flour and cornstarch until just combined. Gently spread - but don't press - into an 8-inch x 8-inch baking dish. Poke 5 rows of holes with a fork into the shortbread. Bake for 35 minutes and cut into squares, rectangles, whatever while hot. Set aside to cool.

Melt 4 ounces of white chocolate in a double boiler (a pot with a few inches of simmering water with a glass bowl on top) or the microwave. Arrange shortbread on a plate and using a spoon, drizzle melted chocolate over top then top with crushed peppermint.

Why we make it.

I know everyone loves sugar cookies, but I'll pass on those. For me it's all about shortbread. Shortbread is everything I love: pure butter, simple and fine, old lady food for the ages. This is the shortbread to end all shortbreads and comes from my dear friend, Theresa Wilson, the world's warmest cook. Her kitchen is full of delights and her desserts are doused with butter. If there's ever a time where this is allowed, it's Christmas. Many of us feel compelled to make a treat or two this time of year. This Christmas Shortbread is the easiest one. Did I still spew flour and sugar all over my kitchen today? Yes. I don't bake. You know this. But is that buttery, crumbly, vanilla scented rectangle splashed with white chocolate and crowned with peppermint dust worth a little crunch beneath my feet in the kitchen? You know it is. That's why I made it.