Sugar Cookies with Stained Glass
Cookies with a window cut from the centre, filled with crushed hard candy that melts during baking to create a translucent, jewel-like stained-glass effect.
Ingredients
hard candies (in various colors and flavors, crushed)
About 4 ounces
Sugar Cookies (dough from page 46)
1 recipe
Granulated or colored sugar (optional)
Instructions
1
PREHEAT
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 1 or 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2
PLACE
Place same-colored hard candies into small plastic bags. Seal the bags and use the smooth side of a meat mallet or hammer to crush the candies until they are powdery. Separate the colors and place them into small cups.
3
ROLL
Roll out the sugar cookie dough and cut into shapes following the instructions on pages 46 to 47. Use a 1-inch cutter to cut out a "window" in each cookie. Carefully transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets using a thin metal spatula, spacing them about 1.5 inches apart. If the small piece of dough cut out does not come out with the cutter, remove it. Re-roll the cut scraps.
4
USING
Using the smallest, sharpest spoon you have (such as an espresso spoon), carefully fill the windows with the powdered candies, almost filling them to the height of the cookie. Try not to get the candies on the top of the cookies. If desired, lightly sprinkle a layer of granulated or colored sugar on top of the cookies.
5
BAKE
Bake the cookies for 10 to 11 minutes, until the edges are light golden and the candies have melted and become translucent. (If using 2 baking sheets, rotate them top-to-bottom and front-to-back midway through baking.) Transfer the baking sheets to a rack and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets. Do not try to remove the cookies from the parchment paper too soon, or the candy will stick. Once the candy has set, transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
