Recipe: Whole Wheat Shortbread

Makes 2 dozen cookies

These simple "digestives," as the English call them, are the perfect way to round out a holiday meal or say thanks to the host of a family gathering. With only three main ingredients, it is important that each one be at its peak. Don't count on last year's unfinished bag of whole-wheat flour to taste fresh anymore, and splurge on some quality designer butter for maximum butter flavor.

- 2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1/2 cup Turbinado sugar or "Sugar in the Raw"
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted imported or "European-style" butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with baker's parchment.

2. Put the whole-wheat flour, the raw sugar and the salt in the work bowl of a food processor and process briefly just to blend. If you don't own a food processor, stir the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

3. Cut the butter into half-inch bits and add them to the flour mixture. Process, pulsing the motor on and off until the mixture comes together to form a crumbly dough. If you're working without a food processor, use a pastry cutter or your fingers to press the butter into the flour. Shape the dough into two logs, each about 6 inches long, and slice the logs into half-inch slices.

4. Bake the slices for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely before storing in airtight containers. The cookies keep for up to one week, but are best eaten a day or two after they are baked.