Ingredients:

Chocolate-Peppermint Ganache:
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract

Triple Chocolate Shortbread Cookies:
• ¼ pound unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 5 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

White Modeling Chocolate:
• 9 ounces white chocolate
• 5 ounces light corn syrup
• A few drops red food coloring
• A few drops green food coloring
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Method:
For Chocolate-Peppermint Ganache:
Place chocolate in medium-sized bowl. Bring heavy cream just to boil and pour over chocolate. Let sit for two minutes, then stir to combine. Stir in peppermint extract. Refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.

For Triple Chocolate Shortbread Cookies:
In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add to mixer and mix until just combined. Scrape sides of bowl at least once. Add white and bittersweet chocolates and mix until chocolates are evenly distributed.

Between layers of plastic wrap, roll dough out to 1/8 inch thick. Peel off top layer of plastic and place back on dough. Flip dough, peel plastic off what is now top. Cut cookies with 2 inch fluted cookie cutter. Place about ½ inch apart on 2 or 3 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Re-roll scraps and repeat. There should be at least 60 cookies. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, 6 minutes each. Cookies will seem underdone, with no crunch. Let sit 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling. Let firm up for at least 1 hour.

For White Modeling Chocolate:
In double boiler or bowl set over simmering water, melt white chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in corn syrup. Continue stirring until chocolate thickens and becomes sticky. Wrap tightly in plastic and let rest two hours at room temperature.

Pull off two 1 ounce chunks (about 1 Tablespoon each) of modeling chocolate. Using gloves, massage a few drops red food coloring into one chunk. Repeat with other chunk, using green food coloring. Divide remaining plain modeling chocolate into quarters. Flatten two quarters into rough squares about sandwich bread thickness. Flatten red chocolate into a square the same size. Sandwich the red square between the two plain squares. Make five equal length strips. Turn on their sides to expose colored stripes and gather all strips together. Gently work together into a lump. Repeat with green chocolate and remaining quarters.

Sprinkle small amount of powdered sugar onto pastry mat or silpat and gently roll red lump to 1/8 inch thickness. Using a 2 – 3/8 inch size round fluted cookie cutter, cut as many circles of dough as you can. Pull up scraps and gently reroll and cut until you’ve used up all the chocolate. Be careful not to overwork the chocolate or it will lose its marbled pattern. Repeat with green lump.

To Assemble:
Spread scant Tablespoon of Chocolate-Peppermint Ganache on underside of Triple Chocolate Shortbread Cookie, leaving small amount of ganache on spreader. Place another cookie on top of ganache, and dab rest of ganache on top. Gently place a circle of red or white chocolate on ganache and press so that chocolate adheres. Repeat with remaining cookies, ganache & modeling chocolate.