peanut butter shortbread

I love going to the peanut butter company website to find new exciting ways to create baked goods with pb in them. Plus their peanut butter products are some of my favorite. A while ago I saw this recipe for peanut butter shortbread, bookmarked it, even printed it out to try at some point. Or as most of us say, put it in the "to cook" pile. I finally came around to baking it. If you are a lover of peanut butter then I highly suggest making this. It's very rich, very buttery and you can try new flavors of peanut butter to use (best part) in it. The recipes on their website change from month to month so I don't know if the pb shortbread is still up there, but I'll list it below for you. There is also a recipe, currently up there, for pb hot chocolate. Sounds good.
I loved this shortbread so much, that the next time I make it I want to dip one end of the shortbread in melted milk chocolate and give these out to family & friends as Christmas gifts. I haven't even begun to start my holiday baking! Ack! Anyone else way behind in baking? For some reason I am having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit lately. Maybe it's all the rain and lack of sunshine. Who knows. I did all my Christmas cards, but it felt like it took forever and a day to do. Anyone else in a Christmas-less funk?

PB Shortbread
adapted from The Peanut Butter Company

2 cups flour
2/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white chocolate pb (or try the: Dark Chocolate dreams, Mighty Maple)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
(I added 1/2 cup of Nestle pb & milk chocolate swirls morsels)

Prehead the oven to 275 (I cooked mine at 300 degrees). Grease a 9-inch cake pan for wedges or I guess you could use a square pan or even roll into balls for cookies.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt and set aside.
In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla till fluffy.
Continue mixing, adding the dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time, until fully incorporated.
If you want classic wedges, at this point press the dough into the prepared cake pan, using a knife to score the surface of the dough into 12 wedge-shaped pieces. (I put mine in the fridge to chill for an hour before baking, then scored the dough before baking)
Repeatedly press the tips of a fork around the outer edge of the shortbread, creating four concentric circles of dots.
Bake for 60 - 75 minutes (I baked mine at 300 degrees for 60 minutes) or until shortbread is a pale golden color (if using the chocolate pb look for a slight crispness around the edges).
If in wedges, allow to cool for 1 hour before cutting.
(the next time I make these I am dipping one end of the shortbread into melted milk chocolate). Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I put caramel drizzle on almost everything.
A big thank you to my friend Elle over at Elle's New England Kitchen. I won her recent giveway contest and will be receiving Barefoot Contessa's latest book "Back to Basics". I am over-the-moon thrilled to have won.