Tried and true easy Stained Glass Cookies that will impress everyone! They are crispy, buttery and simply beautiful!
Ingredients
1cupunsalted buttersoftened
1cupgranulated sugar
½teaspoonsalt
2large eggsroom temperature
1 ½teaspoonspure vanilla extract
3 ½cupsall-purpose flourdivided
24Clear Hard Candies in desired colors
Instructions
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed.
Add the eggs, vanilla and salt and continue blending until thoroughly combined.
Slowly add the flour, mixing just until combined.
Cover the dough and place in the refrigerator for one hour.
While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line sheet pans with silicone liners (or parchment paper - however, the melted hard candy can stick to some brands of parchment paper so try using silicone liners if possible).
Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out onto a floured surface about ¼ of an inch thick.
Cut into desired shapes and transfer to the baking sheet. Then cut out hollow areas and remove using a toothpick.
Re-roll and cut scrap dough.
Place the candy in the hollowed out areas, filling about ¾ of the way.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are set and the candy centers are melted.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet until the candy is completely cooled.
Notes
Always use eggs at room temperature for baking. This will allow it to incorporate better in the cookie dough.
For best results, use a good quality pure vanilla extract.
If cookie dough gets warm while rolling it and cutting into shapes, it’s better to chill it before continuing working with it.
You'll need to separate the hard candies into each color before finely crushing them.
To finely crush the hard candies, you can use a meat mallet.
Try to finely crush hard candy, as big chunks can cause an overflow of the middle of the cookie.
Fill about ¾ of the centers with finely crushed hard candy.
You can cut a small hole at the top of the cookie in order to hang it as a decoration. For that, simply use a straw to cut a small circle on each cookie. When baked and cooled, pass a ribbon to hang the cookie.
Use silicone liners- if possible - to line baking sheets. As the melted hard candy can stick to some brands of parchment paper.
Use a toothpick to easily remove the cut out hallow areas from the center of the cookies.
For extra flavor in the cookies, you can add 1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest if desired.
Keeping the hard candy in a thin layer makes the cookies easier to eat. As otherwise, the centers will be difficult to bite.