Stained Glass Cookies

Equipment:

  • 3 inch cookie cutter or nesting cutters
  • Parchment paper or silicon baking mats

Ingredients:

  • Sour balls or Jolly Ranchers, crushed
  • 3 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp grated orange zest

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Whisk together the flour and salt and set aside.  Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.  Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla and orange zest and mix until blended.  Add the flour/salt mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.

Divide the dough into 3 discs and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

Line two baking sheets with parchment or silpats.

Working on a floured work surface, roll the dough until it is 1/8 inch thick.  Use cookie cutters to cut your desired shapes, reserving the extra dough for re-rolling.  Inside each cookie shape cut a window using a smaller cookie cutter (this is why nesting cutters work so well for this recipe!).  Fill each window with crushed candy.  If you are making ornaments don’t forget to cut a small hole in the top of the cookie before baking (you can use a straw or wooden skewer).  Bake for 8-10 minutes.

*NOTE: If the cookies are baking faster than the candy is melting, place a small amount of crushed candy in a microwave safe cup and microwave for 45 seconds.  You can then pour the liquid candy into the windows after they come out of the oven.

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