½ cup (1 stick) best quality unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus additional for greasing the pan
½ cup organic confectioner’s (powdered) sugar (look for brands without cornstarch)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup organic unbleached all-purpose flour or your favorite GF flour blend (I did test this with Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 flour and it worked great, although it was a little paler than the ones I made with wheat flour)
pinch of sea salt
Topping:
½ cup (3 ounces) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chips
½ cup (3 ounces) white chocolate, chopped or chips
2 teaspoons coconut oil, divided
1 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided
Candy canes, crushed or Red freeze-dried fruit, such as strawberries or raspberries, or whatever you like! (I normally use 2 standard size candy canes)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan or 8 x 8-inch baking dish and line it with unbleached parchment paper. I personally prefer a springform pan or a removable bottom tart pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer), beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until combined, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour and salt and beat until the mixture comes together into a ball of dough.
Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the surface just starts to turn golden, about 25-30 minutes. Cut into wedges while still warm and allow to cool completely. Separate the wedges a bit before drizzling with chocolate.
In a heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (or use a double boiler), melt the semisweet chocolate and 1 teaspoon coconut oil together until smooth. Stir in ½ teaspoon peppermint extract. Spread over the cooled shortbread. If you want to spread melted white chocolate over the semisweet chocolate, freeze until set, about 5 minutes. If you plan to drizzle the melted white chocolate, you can just go straight to that step.
Melt the white chocolate, 1 teaspoon coconut oil, and ½ teaspoon peppermint extract in the same way. Spread or drizzle over the semisweet chocolate layer. Immediately sprinkle with crushed candy canes or freeze-dried fruit. Freeze until firm, about 5-10 minutes and store in the refrigerator.
Recipe by Pamela Salzman at https://pamelasalzman.com/peppermint-bark-shortbread-recipe/