The Snowy Day

I just discovered a lovely book perfect for this time of year!  Andrea Davis Pinkney is one of our favorite authors, and she wrote "A Poem for Peter", a picture book history of Ezra Jack Keat's "The Snowy Day".  And what better snack to accompany those books than snowflake shortbread?!?

Snowflake Shortbread

(from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook 1989)

serves 16

1 1/4 all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a mixing bowl combine flour and sugar.  Cut in butter till mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling.  Stir pecans into the mixture, then sprinkle with vanilla and mix again.  Press dough into shortbread pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until firm and lightly brown. Let cool slightly, then invert pan on a cutting board and bang hard until it comes out.