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Easy and Impressive: Stained Glass Cookies
Stained glass cookies, these beautiful things with windows of translucent candy in their centers, are simply magical. They’re so festive and perfect for the holidays. I’ve always wanted to make them, and have actually tried a few times, but I had never had much success until now.
Perhaps I never had a good recipe, or perhaps I had only attempted them on my own without referring to any instructions—I’m not sure. The fact was, I had given up on them until the December issue of Martha Stewart Living came out this year. They have a recipe for one dough that makes several different types of cookies. I could see from the pictures that the dough for the cookies was true to form even after it baked. And the instructions for making them with the stained glass in the center were clear and specific, so I mustered up some baking courage and tried them again. I think they were pretty successful.
This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart Living, December 2010
Stained Glass Cookies
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup superfine sugar (or granulated)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon of table salt)
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
several Jolly Rancher candies, cut into 1/4″ pieces, and separated into colors
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Add in egg and beat until well incorporated, scraping down the bowl, if necessary. Add in vanilla and almond extract. And beat until smooth. With mixer on low, add in salt, flour, and baking powder, and mix until completely incorporated and dough is uniform. Pull dough together into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 25 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, pound dough several times with a rolling pin to soften it, then roll it to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on a silpat (silicone baking sheet liner) or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut a shape in the center of the cookie. Bake for 4 minutes. Pull cookies from oven, and fill cutout shapes with candy pieces (it should look like you’re overfilling it). Bake for 4 minutes more. Let cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet before removing.
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7 Comments
[...] Pictured above are Stained Glass Cookies [...]
Send your Christmas Wishes with these Delicious Cookie Recipes | The Family Kitchen commented on Dec 23 10 at 11:11 amJessMoon commented on Dec 10 10 at 4:11 pmHow did you cut the Jolly Rancher candies?
Jaime (sophistimom) commented on Dec 10 10 at 4:14 pmGood question, JessMoon. I cut them with scissors—kitchen shears work well, but be careful, and tell your kids to stay away from you. Mine kept trying to touch the candy while I was cutting. Luckily we didn’t have any accidents.
Korinthia Klein commented on Dec 11 10 at 12:59 amThese are so pretty–I’m really looking forward to trying them with my kids! Could you use any clear hard candy in the middle? Like chopped up suckers? Also, for breaking the candy I think you could put it in a ziplock bag and tap it with a hammer.
Jaime commented on Dec 11 10 at 1:12 amYes, you can use other candies, like lollipops, and I also hear that lifesavers work as well (the butter rum flavor would actually work well, and you could tell people it’s egg nog flavored). The only reason I suggested Jolly Ranchers, was because I used and tested that brand of candy. If you use another brand, just keep an eye on them in the oven to ensure the proper cooking time.
Jaime commented on Dec 11 10 at 1:17 amOh, and yes, the hammer trick will definitely work, especially with the non-Jolly Rancher candies. I think Jolly Ranchers have a bit of a softness to them, and are slightly harder to crack, which is why I used scissors. However, I would be interested to know if anyone has success in whacking them with a hammer.
Deb commented on Jan 21 11 at 10:23 amI’ve always wacked with a hammer with the candy in plastic bags. What I would like to know is, how do you keep the candy from getting soft and sticky after the cookies are baked? I had baked, cooled and then put into a tupperware container. After several days the candy windows on the cookies on the top layer started sticking to the cookie candy windows on the bottom layer. Tried putting wax paper & parchment between and then the candy just stuck to the papers.
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