Stained Glass Cutouts

Name: Stained Glass Cutouts
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: about 3 dozen.
Ingredients: 3/4 cup butter, 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

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!"

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, 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 large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. 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.

Nutrition Facts

2 each: 172 calories, 8g fat (5g saturated fat), 32mg cholesterol, 120mg sodium, 23g carbohydrate (11g sugars, 0 fiber), 2g protein.

Originally published as Stained Glass Cutouts in Crafting Traditions November/December 1999

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sarah_mcelroy

May 20, 2011

This recipe was very difficult. Once the dough was soft enough to roll, it was too soft to move to the pans for baking. The center shapes became distorted. It doesn't say in the recipe, but the centers need a LOT of candy to form the "glass" and will melt into the cookie, so be careful not to get any shards/chips of candy on top of the cookie.