Stained Glass Cutouts
Country Woman
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Light up your dessert tray this Christmas with the heavenly confections here! They're twice the treat, since they feature hard candy in the middle of crisp sugar cookies. "The candy creates the 'stained glass' effect," notes Margaret Milleker of Baltimore, Maryland. "The cookies are pretty enough to hang in a window. But folks are sure to gobble them up!"
SERVINGS: 18
CATEGORY: Dessert
METHOD: Baked
TIME: Prep: 30 min. + chilling Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Assorted colors of clear hard candy
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle. Meanwhile, coarsely crush each color of hard candy separately; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with 4-in. cookie cutters dipped in flour. Cut out centers with 1-in. cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 in. apart on lightly grease foil-lined baking sheets. Fill centers with crushed candy. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until candy is melted and edges begin to brown. Cool completely on baking sheet. Carefully peel cookies off the foil. Yield: about 3 dozen.