Description
Stained Glass Cookies are festive sugar cookies with a colorful, translucent candy center resembling a stained glass window. These buttery cookies are perfect for holiday celebrations and fun baking projects.
Ingredients
Scale
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour
Decorations
- 2/3 cup coarse sparkling sugar
- 1/2 cup crushed hard candies (Jolly Ranchers or Lifesavers)
Instructions
- Make the dough: In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and salt, then slowly mix in the flour until thoroughly combined.
- Chill the dough: Remove the dough from the bowl. Place the dough on a large piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a disc. Wrap the plastic wrap around the dough and chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 day before baking.
- Prep for baking: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
- Roll and cut dough: Divide the dough in half. Re-wrap one half and refrigerate. Roll the remaining dough into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Using a 4 inch star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out shapes and place them 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Use a 2 inch star cookie cutter to cut out centers from each large star.
- Add sugar and chill: Gently press sparkling sugar onto the tops of the cookies. Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator and chill for 20 minutes.
- Fill with candy: Remove from refrigerator. Fill each cookie center about 2/3 full with crushed candy using a toothpick to nudge candy into crevices.
- Bake cookies: Bake for 12 minutes or until cookies are light golden brown and the candy has melted. Cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Repeat: Repeat the rolling, cutting, chilling, filling, and baking process with the remaining half of the dough.
- Store: Store cookies covered in a single layer for up to 2 days.
Notes
- Separate the candies by color before crushing to keep colors pure. Crush candies with the flat end of a meat mallet or rolling pin to a coarse sand or small pebble size; avoid fine powder to prevent over caramelization.
- Fill the cookie centers only about 2/3 full with crushed candy to avoid overflow during baking.
- Use a toothpick to gently nudge the crushed candy into all points of the star-shaped windows for even filling.
- Chilling the dough and cookies before baking helps maintain shape and prevents spreading.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 180 kcal
- Sugar: 15 g
- Sodium: 80 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 22 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 35 mg
