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.