Stained Glass Cookies and Ornaments
These cookies look great hanging from a Christmas tree branch or against a window — especially a kitchen window. Their light-catching beauty isn’t difficult to reproduce.
They are simply rolled cookies with the centers cut out and filled with colorful crushed hard candy. The candy melts as the cookies bake, turning into a thin sheet of transparent color that looks just liked stained glass.
The actual cookie dough that you use does not matter significantly; any favorite sugar cookie or gingerbread recipe will work well.
This recipe does not need to be chilled before being used and it does not get sticky, which makes it particularly kid friendly. (This is not to say that the dough can’t be chilled — it can.)
It’s a great recipe to have on hand should you decide to make stained glass cookies as last-minute holiday gifts or ornaments.
RECIPE
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Several years ago an article titled “23 Cookies for Christmas” with recipes by Alice Lehr showed a picture of cream cheese cookies that looked so good. The cookies were topped with a cherry. Would anyone know what I am referring to? I would love to have that recipe. They looked as though they would melt in your mouth. Thanks for any help. Florence
I made these and have to add 3 comments for those who want to try them:
(1) unless you have the little cookie cutters as well as the big ones (which are pictured but I’ve not found in stores), these are a huge amount of work & require steady hands & gift of art;
(2) don’t underestimate what it takes to crush the candies. They break thorough all bags I tried to put them in – freezer strong, cereal box liners, etc. – and make a big mess & still don’t get crushed evenly. I tried also using “Nerds” which are always pretty small, separating them by color, etc. But they didn’t dry hard & stuck to everything & were not as transparent.
(3) These are tedious & only for artistic people. They took me 3 hours one day & 5 hours the next. Although I’m artistically inclined & do a lot of intricate work around the house (including “handyman” jobs and jewelry repair, mine did not turn out as pictured… were much messier & less attractive. Anyway, not to put a damper on this, but I wish I had been warned before I went to all the trouble.
I tried these with salt dough and colored sugar crystals and they were super easy and turned out pretty good. Just be careful not to burn them or the sugar goes black