Stain Glass Cookies

These pretty looking melt in the mouth cookies are not only easy to make, but extremely delicious and tempting too. It’s quite addictive and quite difficult to stop with just one. Though these are melt in the mouth, they are sturdy enough to be hanged on your Christmas tree. Just make a small hole (before baking) with a toothpick

on the top of these cookies and hang it using a pretty thread or coloured ribbon. The melted candy in the centre gives it a glass like appearance and thus the name. Also when you finally light up your Christmas tree, these will reflect light and look pretty attractive.

Traditionally it’s made using all purpose flour, sugar and butter. The inner holes are filled with coloured sugar syrup. But one can often skip making this sugar syrup at home and instead use ready made hard candy. You need to crush them using a rolling pin and fill it in the cookies when they are partially baked. You can use different flavours and different colours of hard candy to fill these cookies. I have used Fox brand hard candies. I had only pinkish red coloured ones with me, but you can use different colours.

You can be creative and use various shaped cutters and fill it with crushed candy at desired shape and position of holes on the cookies. This recipe doesn’t use any baking powder or baking soda. It’s very important to refrigerate the dough for few minutes to be able to roll it evenly. I have also refrigerated the tray with the shaped cookies for 15-20 minutes before baking. This ensures that the cookies doesn’t spread while baking. Bake the cookies without the candy for 7-8 minutes, then fill it up and bake again for 5-6 minutes. Keep checking after 3-4 minutes as each oven behaves differently. It can turn brown very soon.

Remember to let the melted candy dry off before removing the cookies from the tray or you will end up getting cracked glass cookies as it happened to some of mine 🙂 Make it for your kids and friends and family and please do not forget to share your pictures and experience with me.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour 150 gm
• Butter 100 gm
• Sugar 60-70 gm
• Cornflour 2 tsp
• Hard candy as required

Method:

• Powder the sugar finely in a dry mixer jar.
• Cream the butter and powdered sugar till its pale and creamy.

• Mix the all purpose flour and cornflour and sieve it twice.
• Slowly add the flour into the butter mixture and assemble to form a dough. Do not knead hard.

• Refrigerate the dough for few minutes or upto an hour.
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Preheat the oven at around 150-160 degree Celsius for atleast 10 minutes.
• Dust some flour on your clean kitchen counter and roll the dough. If it breaks or tears, roll the dough between 2 layers of parchment paper.
• Roll the dough into around one fourth inch thickness.
• Cut into desired shapes using a cookie cutter. You may use round or star shaped of snowflake or any shape of your choice.

• Cut out a small part of desired shape from the centre of the cookie. You can use a smaller cutter or a piping nozzle.
• Place the cookies on the baking tray and bake for around 7-8 minutes.

• Meanwhile, place the hard candies in a zip lock bag and crush it using a rolling pin.

• Take the cookies out of the oven and fill the centre with the crushed candies.

• Transfer the tray back into the oven and bake again for 5-6 minutes more.
• Take the tray out of the oven and allow the cookies to cool in the tray for 5-6 minutes.
• Transfer the cookies gently onto a cooling rack and cool it completely.

• Store in airtight containers and enjoy these Christmas delights 🙂

Notes:

• If you plan to hang these cookies on your Christmas tree, poke a hole in the shaped cookie using a toothpick as shown below. Use a decorative thread and hang it.
• You can use any bright coloured hard candy of your choice.
• No need to use any rising agents in these cookies.
• If the dough is too soft, refrigerate the shaped cookies in the tray for few minutes and then bake.
• If you are using icing sugar, you can skip the cornflour in the recipe. These cookies are mildly sweet.