Twelve Days of Christmas, Day Two, The Essential Shortbread

I make this shortbread recipe for my mom every Christmas. It is buttery, delicate and crisp. It is also really simple to throw together! The recipe comes from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. King Arthur Flour also has a cookbook titled The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook which I would highly recommend as well. There are lots of yummy variations on this shortbread in the Cookie Companion but my mom loves it just plain.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 tsp. salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter two 9 inch round cake pans.

*Cream together the butter, salt, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in flour.

*Divide dough in half and press it into prepared pans. Prick the dough with a fork in an attractive pattern.

* Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Remove it from the oven and loosen the edges with a knife. Wait 5 minutes, then carefully turn un-cut shortbread out onto a work surface. While still warm, use pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut shortbread into 12 wedges. Transfer wedges to rack to cool.