Description
Our Stained Glass Sugar Cookies can be made two ways: with a colorful hard candy center, or with a translucent, glass-like center made with isomalt. These make for the most gorgeous homemade cookie ornaments and they're a fun project for kids and adults alike!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8-10 colored hard candies (like Jolly Ranchers) in colors of your choice
- Optional (for the clear glass version): 1 cup isomalt crystals, fresh rosemary and dried cranberries, pink peppercorns or red pearl sprinkles
Instructions
- Add butter, sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer). Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add in eggs one at a time, mixing just until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3-4 batches, until the dough comes together. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll 1/2 of the dough out into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Cut out your desired shapes – we used a round cookie cutter, a snowflake and an ornament. Cut smaller shapes out from the center of each cookie (for example, a smaller snowflake, a smaller circle, or small star shapes). If you want to make ornaments, pierce a hole in the top of each cookie with a skewer.
- We used 1/2 of the dough for the isomalt filling and 1/2 for the hard candy. You can choose one method or the other if preferred. Here's how to do both:
- To make the hard candy (colored glass) cookies: Separate the hard candies by color, then crush them. You can do this by placing them in a plastic bag and smashing with a rolling pin, or we used a small food processor to pulse them into fine pieces.
- Transfer the cutouts to the prepared sheet pan, leaving 1-2 inches of space in between each cookie (they will spread slightly in the oven). Fill the center of each cookie with the crushed hard candies, filling about 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for about 8 minutes, until the bottom is very lightly browned and the candy is completely melted. This may take 1-2 minutes more or less depending on how thick you rolled your cookies. Keep a close eye on the oven – the candy can burn very quickly! Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet to set the candy. If you're making ornaments, reinforce the hole by with a skewer right after they come out of the oven.
- To make the isomalt (clear glass) cookies (we use this version for decoration only): transfer the cutouts to the prepared sheet pan, leaving 1-2 inches of space in between each cookie (they will spread slightly in the oven). Bake for about 8 minutes, until the bottom is very lightly browned. This may take 1-2 minutes more or less depending on how thick you rolled your cookies.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. If you're making ornaments, reinforce the hole by with a skewer right after they come out of the oven. Once cooled, transfer the cookies to a silicone baking mat over a heat proof cutting board. Prepare several small sprigs of rosemary (you'll need two per cookie) and 3 dried cranberries, pink peppercorns or round sprinkles for each cookie.
- Add the isomalt crystals to a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Don't stir, but you can gently swirl the pot as they start to melt to make sure it melts evenly. It will take about 5 minutes to melt into a clear liquid. Remove from heat. If there are bubbles, let them settle before pouring.
- Carefully (the isomalt is very hot – it's best to wear safety gloves) pour the isomalt into the center of each cookie, until it fills the entire cavity. I do about 3 cookies at a time, then pause to add decorations before the isomalt sets.
- Using tweezers or a long skewer, carefully arrange the rosemary, making sure all of the rosemary is touching the isomalt (otherwise it will brown), then arrange 3 dried cranberries in the center. (See images above). Repeat with all remaining cookies. The isomalt will set in about 10 minutes. If your isomalt starts to set in the pan, put it back over medium heat and swirl until it's melted again.
- If you're making ornaments, string twine through the hole at the top, then tie it into a knot. Hang on a tree or garland!
Notes
Storage: If you're eating these cookies (the hard candy version), keep them stored in an airtight container with parchment paper between each layer of cookies to prevent the hard candy from sticking. They will last for 1-2 weeks at room temperature, or 3 months in the freezer.
For the isomalt ornament version, they will last for months. We've already had ours hanging from our garland for over a month, and they look as good as day 1. (Of course, do not eat these!)
The isomalt version is better suited for decoration than for eating. Isomalt is very hard and not particularly enjoyable to eat, which is why we use these as ornaments. For eating, we recommend the hard candy version!
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 98
- Sugar: 6.6 g
- Sodium: 22.8 mg
- Fat: 4.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 13.9 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 1.3 g