Art of Natural Living

Stained Glass Cookies

By Inger Nov 10, 2021 Christmas, Cookies & Candies, Cooking & Recipes 39 Comments
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
PinYummly

With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays. With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays.

Making Stained Glass Cookies has been on my list, practically forever. They are so pretty and, well… you eat with your eyes first! 

So when I began planning for Christmas Cookies Week with my blogging friends (keep reading for more tasty recipes below), I decided to give them a try.

In the end, they came together easily and were even more impressive than I expected. Why didn’t I try these years ago! 

Yes, I know, so many recipes, so little time.  With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays.

What are Stained Glass Cookies

If you’ve never seen them before, stained glass cookies are a cutout sugar cookie with a “window” that looks like colored glass.  They are popular around the holidays though they’d probably be seriously cute for a baby shower or gender reveal too.

The “glass” cutout is achieved by cutting out the inside of the cookie with a smaller shape.  This can be done using a smaller cookie cutter or cut by hand.

The window-like opening is filled with crushed colored translucent candy.  This melts as the cookie bakes, then re-hardens with a glass-like appearance.  While it sounds a bit complicated, they turned out to be pretty simple!   With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays.

Step by Step Directions

As I mentioned, these were quite easy to make.  To start you crush the hard candy, keeping the different colors separate. crush candy

Next begin the dough by mixing  the butter egg and sugar. Then add in the flour and continue mixing until well combined.

make cookie dough

On a floured surface roll out to 1/4 inch thick.  roll dough

Cut cookie, then lift off with a metal spatula to loosen from the surface.

loosen cut out cookie

Cut the inside window with a smaller cookie cutter or by hand with a knife. cut inside "window" in cookie

Place the cookies on baking parchment, then fill the “window” opening with crushed candy.  

fill centers with crushed candy

Place in 350 F oven and bake until cookie is set and candy is melted and bubbly, about 9 minutes.

bake

Remove from oven.  Slide parchment onto cooking rack to cool.  Repeat with remaining batter. 

Selection of Cookie Cutters

There are many options when it comes to shapes (inside and outside) for your Stained Glass Cookies. One of my favorite combos was using the same shape in bigger and smaller sizes. Like the bells above!

My other favorite outside shape was the circle. This gave me a lot of options for a different center cutouts. I already had a set of small holiday cookie cutter that worked very well for this. And next year I plan to get a slightly larger circle cutter.With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays.

Hard Candy Selection

I used jolly rancher candies in my cookies, though it is likely that many translucent candies or suckers would work.

The one critique I got (from my “picky daughter”), was that it felt strange to be eating a Christmas sugar cookie then bite into a blue raspberry flavored center. She suggested that peppermint flavor would be more appropriate.

I have heard you can use peppermint candies or candy canes. But since they aren’t translucent you lose part of the cookie’s appeal. So on my agenda for next year is to make my own clear hard candy with peppermint flavor and give that a try! Stay tuned! With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays.

On Refrigerating Cookie Dough

Most recipes for Stained Glass Cookies chill either the cookies or the dough before baking. This is a common technique to keep butter cookies from spreading as they bake.

I started out with this in mind, cutting the cookies, then popping them into the freezer for 5-10 minutes. But they seemed pretty solid so I tried baking just one cookie without refrigerating first. It came out perfect so I skipped all refrigeration on the final cookies.

My recipe has a little less liquid than many and I believe this makes the difference. But there is one caveat here. Different brands of butter have different percentages of water and that can sometimes be the culprit with spread. In the unlikely event this happens, pop your cookies into the freezer for 5 minutes before baking.  Haning Stained Glass Cookie

How to Make a Hanging Cookie

These cookies are pretty enough to use as ornaments or hanging decorations!

To make a hanging cookie, you need to cut a hole to slide a string or ribbon through. This should be done before you bake the cookie, of course, but also before you cut your inside opening. This will ensure you have room left in the right place for the sting opening (ask me how I know this).  With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays.

I used a metal straw to make an opening, which worked well since it was sharp and solid. The cut out piece of cookie pulled up when I lifted the straw and then I blew it out. cut whole in cookie for string to hand

Tips & FAQs

If you peek into the oven while your cookies are baking (yes, I know you are not supposed to do this) you can watch the transformation. When the candy first melts, it looks like it won’t fill all the space. A few minutes later, the molten candy starts to boil and then it spreads out.

When you take it out of the oven, there are sometimes a lot of bubbles. Many of these will dissipate as they cool. Some may remain and if that bothers you, you can break them with a toothpick while the candy is still molten.

How finely do I crush the candy?  I decided that a powder was hard to work with and that anything up to about 1/4 inch wide still melted fine. So go for a sweet spot in between.  But don’t obsess since it didn’t seem to be that critical. 

Getting the right amount of candy into the opening was the only thing at all tricky. If you put too many candy pieces in the “window” space, the candy boils up over the top of the well and comes out looking like the picture below.  I filled about to the top, but stayed away from the edges and this seemed to work. The picture in the step by step directions above may help.  cookies with window overflow

What happens if I underfill my windows? If you underfill and part of the window is empty, you can add more crushed candy and put the cookie sheet back in the oven for another minute or two. I underfilled my final batch when I was trying to stretch my crushed candy, so I have tested this!

Have you heard that you can compost brown parchment paper? I just read this here and it made my day! Now if I could just figure out what to do with the Jolly Rancher wrappers!  With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays.

Wednesday Christmas Cookie Recipes

With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays.

Stained Glass Cookies

With a candy “glass” window cut into a buttery sugar cookie, Stained Glass Cookies are tasty, impressive and perfect for the holidays.
Author: Inger
4.20 from 5 votes
Print
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Cookies & Candies
Cuisine American
Servings 24
Calories 79 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 12 Jolly Rancher candies or a bit more, or equivalent
  • ½ cup butter softened, or margarine
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour fluff, spoon and level
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt skip if using salted butter

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 F.
  • Separate Jolly Rancher candies by color. Leave them in the wrapper (or place in a plastic bag) and crush with a meat tenderizer (or other hard metal object). Place each color in a separate ramekin or small dish.
  • Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and salt if using. Add egg white and mix until well combined.
  • Add flour, one half cup at a time, and mix until well combined.
  • On floured wax paper roll out to about ¼ inch thick or slightly thinner. Cut out a cookie, then separate from paper and move aside using a metal spatula. With a smaller cookie cutter, cut out center “window”. Again with the spatula, place the cookies on parchment lined baking sheet an inch from any other cookie Repeat until baking sheet is full.
  • When the baking sheet is full, fill the cookie centers with crushed candy—it doesn’t need to be in all the corners since the candy will spread as it heats.
  • Bake cookies until set and candy center is bubbly, about 9 minutes.
  • Slide the parchment on to a cooling rack and let cookies cool. When centers have hardened, remove from the parchment.
  • Repeat with the remaining dough, adding cutout dough back and re-rolling as needed.

Notes

If you double the recipe, you can use 1 whole egg instead of two egg whites.
Your cookie count will vary depending on size of cookie and the size of the window.

Nutrition

Calories: 79kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 1gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 57mgPotassium: 12mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 118IUCalcium: 2mgIron: 0.4mg
I am not a health professional and nutrition data is calculated programatically. Accuracy may vary with product selection, calculator accuracy, etc. Consult a professional for the best information.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

39 thoughts on “Stained Glass Cookies”

  1. Rae Martin

    I made these cookies a few years ago. They turned out beautiful however, I left them on parchment lined cookie sheets covered with a piece of parchment paper. Some days later, I removed the parchment paper covering them to wrap them and put them in their boxes to give to friends. The hardened candy had come away from the sides of the cut out and in some cases left holes in the candy. Later on I read somewhere that “moisture” is the “enemy” of stained glass windows. I always vacuum seal the cookies I am giving away so I thought as soon as I make these cookies, once cooled I will vacuum seal them. Have you ever had this problem with your stained glass windows?

    Reply ↓
    1. Inger Post author

      I’ve always put mine away in a sealed cookie tin when they’re cooled–I wouldn’t trust my husband (and maybe even one of our cats) if I left them out! I’ve heard of moisture problems with sponge candy before but not these. Sorry this happened to you and thanks for sharing the importance of putting them away right away–it may help someone else. Vacuum sealed cookie gifts sound lovely–you must be everybody’s best friend!

      Reply ↓
  2. Charleyn Post author

    4 stars
    Beautiful, but… Iʻve seen a lot of people raving about these kinds of cookies with windows. I finally gave it a first time shot today. Donʻt get me wrong, they came out beautiful by following the recipe to a T. But, maybe next time Iʻll add a bit more sugar or add sugar crystals on top the pre-baked cookies because, though during baking they smelt divine, post baking they did not have any flavor what-so-ever and was a bit on the dryer side. Also, Iʻm not a fan of candy getting stuck in my teeth when I want to bite into a cookie. But, they came out just as they shouldʻve looked. I wish I could post a picture and show you how awesome they look. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

    Reply ↓
    1. Inger Post author

      I think the flavor comment is fair and topping with coarse sugar might help–and be pretty too. I’ve been wanting to do a chocolate version with peppermint windows. I think that would fix the flavor problem but you’d still have the candy stuck in your teeth!

      Reply ↓
  3. Charleyn

    4 stars
    Iʻve seen a lot of people raving about these kinds of cookies with windows. I finally gave it a first time shot today. Donʻt get me wrong, they came out beautiful by following the recipe to a T. But, maybe next time Iʻll add a bit more sugar or add sugar crystals on top the pre-baked cookies because, though during baking they smelt divine, post baking they did not have any flavor what-so-ever and was a bit on the dryer side. Also, Iʻm not a fan of candy getting stuck in my teeth when I want to bite into a cookie. But, they came out just as they shouldʻve looked. I wish I could post a picture and show you how awesome they look. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

    Reply ↓
    1. Inger Post author

      I have read that the Jolly Ranchers work better than some other candies if that helps at all…

      Reply ↓
  6. Radha

    Stunning! Love the use of Jolly rancher candies. I need to use these candies from the kids Halloween basket and make the cookies. My kids would love these.

    Reply ↓
  9. Rebecca

    5 stars
    I love how beautiful these cookies turned out to be! The colors are bright and the flavor is so sweet and yummy! Definitely a crowd pleaser!

    Reply ↓
    1. Inger Post author

      I was surprised at how easy and forgiving these seemed to be (especially after ruining my first two batches of brandy snaps). So I’d say go for it!

      Reply ↓
    1. Inger Post author

      Ar, ar, groan, David. We made a gingerbread house for the pandemic and I never thought of a real “glass” window (versus drawing panes in icing). I’ll remember if I do one again some year.

      Reply ↓
    1. Inger Post author

      I didn’t have much trouble but I have heard that some candies work better than others. So maybe a different brand of candy would help… Good luck!

      Reply ↓
  20. John / Kitchen Riffs

    Terrific looking cookies! I’ve had these, never made them. I should — they really do look great. Liking the idea of your own peppermint flavored hard candy, too. Looking forward to that recipe. 🙂 Anyway, these are wonderful — thanks.

    Reply ↓
    1. Inger Post author

      Next year when I try my own candy in these, I’ll let you know how much harder that is! Though I really got to like biting into blue raspberry center 🙂 !

      Reply ↓
4.20 from 5 votes (2 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




css.php