Description
Stained Glass Cookies are delightful buttery sugar cookies with colorful, translucent candy centers that shimmer like stained glass. Perfect for festive occasions, these cookies feature a crisp texture with a sweet, melted candy window that adds a burst of color and flavor.
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
Decoration
- 2/3 cup coarse sparkling sugar
- 1/2 cup crushed hard candies (Jolly Ranchers or Lifesavers work great)
Instructions
- Prepare 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 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.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheet: 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 other half 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 baking sheet. Use a 2 inch star cookie cutter to cut out the centers, creating windows.
- Add Sparkling Sugar: Gently press sparkling sugar into the tops of the cookies for extra sparkle and texture.
- Chill Cookies: Place the baking sheet in the fridge and chill for 20 minutes to help cookies maintain shape during baking.
- Fill Windows with Candy: Remove cookies from the refrigerator. Fill each cookie window about 2/3 full with crushed candy pieces, using a toothpick to nudge candy into small crevices.
- Bake Cookies: Bake for 12 minutes or until cookies are light golden brown and candy has melted forming stained glass centers. Cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Repeat: Repeat the rolling, cutting, chilling, filling, and baking steps with the remaining dough half.
- Store: Store cooled cookies covered in a single layer for up to 2 days.
Notes
- Separate candy colors before crushing and crush them coarsely using a rolling pin or meat mallet to avoid overly fine powder that may burn during baking.
- Fill the centers about 2/3 full with candy to prevent overflow while melting.
- Use a toothpick to carefully push crushed candy into each point of the star cookie window for even coverage and a neat appearance.
- Chilling the dough and cookies improves shape retention and texture.
- If you don’t have star-shaped cutters, other cookie cutter shapes work as well.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Sugar: 12 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
