Stained Glass Cookie Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 302 degrees F/150 degrees C. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment.
• Place the flour in a bowl or on top of a clean work surface. Add the butter and rub it through the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center and add the sugar, eggs and vanilla if using. Gently mix to form a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough to about 1 centimeter (1/2 inch) thickness. Use a large star cutter to cut out stars. Place them on the prepared baking sheets. Use a smaller star cutter to cut the middle out of the large stars. Push an oven-safe lollipop stick through the bottom of a star. Repeat with the remaining stars. Fill the middles of the stars with crushed rock candy. Bake until the edges are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet until the candy has set hard.
• Brush the cookies with edible silver luster dust for sparkle and shimmer.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats.
• On a clean work surface, dust with flour and roll the sugar cookie dough to 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick.
• Using your large Christmas tree or snowflake cutter, cut out shapes and place onto a prepared baking sheet. Re-roll the excess dough to repeat this process until you have used all the dough.
• While on the silicone mat, use the smaller cookie cutters to cut out shapes from the centers of the cookies.
• Place the hard candies into resealable plastic bags and crush using a hammer or the rolling pin until they are almost a dust; you want the pieces to be small enough to fit in your cutouts.
• Sprinkle the crushed hard candy into the cutouts you made in the center of each cookie; be careful not to get any on the top of the cookie. Fill each hole two-thirds of the way.
• If you are planning to use these as ornaments, make a smaller hole towards the top of the cookie using a wooden skewer.
• Bake the cookies until just golden brown around the edges, 10 to 15 minutes; the candy should be melted and bubbling in the center. Allow to cool completely on the pan before attempting to move.
• While cooling, place your royal icing into a pastry bag with a coupler and a decorating tip. Decorate the tops of the cookies with the royal icing. Allow to dry completely before moving.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat to combine. Form dough into 2 disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough between floured parchment paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Stack dough in parchment on a baking sheet; refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes. With a 2 1/2-inch Christmas-ball-shaped cutter, cut out dough (reroll scraps, if desired). Place cookies, 1 inch apart, on two parchment-lined baking sheets. With a 1-inch star cutter, cut out dough in center of each cookie. Bake until cookies are pale but set, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Remove sheets from oven; fill cutouts with crushed candy. Bake until cookies begin to brown at edges and candy is melted, 3 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Steps:

• Cream the butter and sugar; add in the egg, honey, and almond. Sift flour and baking soda together and add; use hands as needed to mix if the electric mixer isn't getting it.
• Refrigerate two hours or overnight (you can make this days in advance and refrigerate up to 5 days before making in an airtight container.).
• Crush the jolly ranchers in a plastic bag with a hammer, we use five different colors with separate bag for each one, and set aside in separate containers. (paper muffin cups work well and no dishes!).
• Line two large baking pans with wax paper; roll out a little over 1/8 inch thick and cut out desired shapes of cookies. Using a clean, sharp knife cut out various shapes in the middle, rerolling scraps until all dough is used up. Place cookies on wax paper and bake at 375°F for 5 minutes (lightly golden). Fill the areas that you had cut out in advance with crushed candies very full, as candies will melt down.
• Bake at 375°F 3 more minutes (candies melted) and cool; peel off wax paper and store in an airtight container.
• *NOTE: Placing a few slices of bread between the cookies will help soak up moisture and prevent the candy center from becoming too hard.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour. Remove the dough from the mixer and press into a rectangular shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Remove from the refrigerator and cut dough into 1/3. Roll out dough, 1 piece at a time to a 3/16-inch thickness. Cut out as many large stars as possible. Repeat with all of the dough. Cut a small triangle out of each the arms on each star.
• Place the hard candy, by color, into small plastic bags. Place a towel over the bags and crush the candy with a meat mallet. Place all of the cookies on parchment lined sheet pans. In each of the triangle holes, fill with different colors of crushed hard candy. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown, and the candy has melted.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour. Remove the dough from the mixer and press into a rectangular shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Remove from the refrigerator and cut dough into 1/3. Roll out dough, 1 piece at a time to a 3/16-inch thickness. Cut out as many large stars as possible. Repeat with all of the dough. Cut a small triangle out of each the arms on each star.
• Place the hard candy, by color, into small plastic bags. Place a towel over the bags and crush the candy with a meat mallet. Place all of the cookies on parchment lined sheet pans. In each of the triangle holes, fill with different colors of crushed hard candy. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown, and the candy has melted.

Steps:

• Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until just incorporated. Divide the dough in half; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Meanwhile, separate the candy by color and place each color in a separate resealable plastic bag. Crush into small pieces using a rolling pin; do not pulverize.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, lightly dust the dough with flour and roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until about 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 15 minutes. Cut into shapes using 2-to-4-inch cookie cutters and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Gather the scraps and refrigerate until firm; reroll once to cut out more cookies. Cut out shapes from the centers of the cookies using smaller cutters; fill the cut-out areas about two-thirds full with the crushed candy. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the cookies, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until the candy melts and the cookies are just golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Steps:

• Mix thouroughly butter, confectioner's sugar, egg, vanilla, and almond extract.
• Blend in flour, soda, and cream of tartar.
• Divide dough in half.
• Color equal portions of 1 half with assorted food colorings.
• Leave the other half plain; Cover and chill for 2-3 hours.
• Roll plain half of dough 1/8" thick on lightly floured cloth-covered board.
• Cut with decorative cookie cutters.
• Place on sprayed or greased cookie sheet.
• Roll colored doughs; cut out different shapes to match and fit on top of each plain cookie shape.
• If you wish to hang the cookies on your tree, place a small piece of drinking straw through the top of each cookie before baking.
• Bake 7-8 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream margarine and dark-brown sugar until fluffy. Add molasses and beat until combined. Add flour mixture, alternating with 1/3 cup water; beating on low until combined. Divide dough in half, pat each half into a rectangle, and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Working with one piece of dough at a time, on a well-floured Silpat (a French nonstick baking mat), roll out dough to a rectangle slightly thicker than 1/8 inch. Chill for 10 minutes. Gather together scraps and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough before rerolling.
• Using a 7-inch star-shaped cutter, cut out dough. (For best results press cutter into the dough and remove the excess before taking away the cutter.) Remove centers of stars using a 3-inch star cutter. Use a skewer to make a hole in a tip of each star.
• Bake until crisp but not darkened, about 20 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool. When cookies are cool, line baking sheets with clean Silpats or parchment paper. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets; set aside.
• Prepare an ice bath; set aside. To make the caramel: Combine granulated sugar, 1/3 cup water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan, and place over medium-high heat. Stir continuously to dissolve sugar. If at any time your hand comes into contact with the hot sugar, immediately plunge it into the ice bath. This should prevent further injury. When sugar is dissolved, stop stirring. Continue to cook, without stirring, until mixture turns amber in color, 5 to 10 minutes. Occasionally wash down sides of the pan using a clean brush dipped in cold water to prevent crystals from forming.
• Carefully fill the centers of the cookies with caramel. Let stand until cool. Thread a piece of wax twine through the hole in each cookie, and tie to create a loop. Do not hang ornaments in direct light or in a humid area, as the caramel can melt.

Steps:

• Mix corn syrup and color in individual bowls.
• Draw your stained glass lines with royal icing, or just go free-hand without lines for a different look.
• Paint a thin coat of cornsyrup mixture on cooled cookies, let dry completely.
• Add a second coat that can be thick as you desire.
• Let dry overnight.