I love the way these look, and you can get really creative with them! These are always a hit with kids, but you might want to warn grandma about the hard candy center before she takes a big old bite of one!
How to make Stained Glass Window Cookies
What you need:
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
½ cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 ounces each red and green hard candies (I used jolly ranchers)
What to do:
Blend butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla; beat until incorporated.
On low speed, add flour; mix until dough comes together in a ball. Sometimes it’s easiest to use your floured hands to make a ball.
Divide dough into 3 pieces; shape into discs. Wrap each in plastic; refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 2 days.
Heat oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Crush Candies (see picture) Keep colors separate. You can use a food processor, or if you don’t have one—a hammer ☺ Transfer into small bowls (see picture)
Remove one piece of dough from refrigerator and knead it on a lightly floured work surface to soften. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8 inch to ¼ inch thick. Cut out shaped with cookie cutter. Place on baking sheet and cut out the center of each cookie with either a knife or another smaller cookie cutter. Refrigerate scraps to do this over again.
Using a very small spoon, carefully fill each cutout with candy so it is resting on the parchment paper and is level with the dough. (see picture)
Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until firm and golden. Cool completely on baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough, then chilled scraps, using fresh parchment each time.
Enjoy and Share!