It is Sunday. Post breakfast, kids are excited as we are about bake some stained glass cookies. Candies were purchased a day before. Younger segregated the candies according to colour and crushed them in a steel mortar and pestle. Older of the two helped in preparing the dough. Kids enjoyed their designated task and soon the cookies were ready to be put together.
Kids love to participate in baking. They learn and develop an interest in baking.
We loved to assemble the cookies, filling the center with crushed candies. The candies melted and filled up the center to give a stained glass effect.
Stained glass cookies are beautiful and flavourful.
They fill up your home with heavenly aroma when baking.
You may use them to decorate your Christmas tree.
Stained Glass Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 100 gms (1 stick, ½ cup) butter
- 1 cup castor sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Hard boiled sweets of different flavours
Instructions
- Whisk together all-purpose flour, salt and baking powder in a deep bowl. Keep aside.
- Beat butter and sugar till creamy and light. Add egg. Beat well. Mixture should be smooth.
- Add honey and vanilla extract. Stir well.
- Add flour mixture and keep stirring till everything comes together. Use hands to form a soft and smooth dough.
- Press dough to a circle and wrap in a cling film. Keep it in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.
- In the meantime, cut a parchment sheet to fit into your baking tray.
- Segregate candies according to colours/flavours.
- Crush the candies of the same colour and keep in separate bowls.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator. Cut into two. Keep one-half back into the refrigerator.
- Take one piece between two parchment sheets and roll with a rolling pin. Roll to get a sheet of about 1/4th-inch thickness.
- Use a cookie cutter to cut the shape of your choice.
- Take another cutter (small size), or a cap of a bottle to cut a circle in the center.
- Transfer the cut cookies carefully to the baking tray placing at least ½ inch apart. If the cookies are too soft to handle, put them in the refrigerator until they are firm and easy to handle.
- Fill the center with a ½ teaspoon or of more crushed candy. Fill enough crushed candy so that it fills up the cavity.
- If you intend to use the cookies for decorating the Christmas tree, poke a hole at the top.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 10 to 12 minutes.
- Turn off the heat as soon as the edges of the cookies begin to turn brown. Remove from the oven and remove the sheet from the tray very carefully. Place on the wire rack to cool. Remove when cool.
- Repeat with the other pieces of dough.
- Store in an airtight container.
My Tips-
- Roll dough between parchment sheets only otherwise it will be very messy.
- Whenever dough becomes too soft and sticky, put it in the refrigerator.
- You may put a whole candy in the center of the cookie. It melts and fills up the center. However, if the candies are of the big size, crushing them is a better idea.
- Watch out after 10 minutes of baking. Turn off the heat as soon as the edges begin to brown.