A few hours before beginning baking, take a half pound of butter (two sticks) and leave out at room temperature until softened.

One hour prior to baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking trays with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.

Cream together the butter and icing sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla, continue beating until well combined.

Add the sifted dry ingredients little by little to the butter mixture, beating until it forms a dough.

Working with a ¼ of the dough at a time, place between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out to ¼ inch thickness.

Cut out the wreaths using a large fluted round cookie cutter for the outside and a smaller circle, flower or star burst cookie cutter for the middle.

Transfer the cut cookie shapes to the lined baking tray (1 inch apart) using a knife or spatula.

Bake the cookies until they are just lightly golden, about 10 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the oven and allow to cool completely on trays.

Roughly chop the pistachios and cranberries into smaller pieces and set aside.

Pour the white chocolate drops into a microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate 20 seconds at a time until melted and smooth.

Dip the tops of the cooled wreath cookies one at a time into the white chocolate.

Place on a wire rack and sprinkle the cookie with a mixture of cranberries and pistachios; allow to set before packaging.