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Home » Baking » Stained Glass Cookies

Published: November 27, 2017 Last Modified: March 29, 2019 By Sara 44 Comments

Stained Glass Cookies

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Stained Glass Cookies | Stained Glass Window Cookies | Sugar Cookies | Christmas Cookies

These beautiful stained glass cookies are buttery sugar cookies with a candy center. A holiday classic that tastes as good as it looks!

If you’ve never made stained glass window cookies before, this is the year you need to try. They’re unique, pretty and so very festive!

Stained Glass Cookies | Stained Glass Window Cookies | Sugar Cookies | Christmas Cookies

Stained glass cookies filled with melted candy and sprinkled with sugar.

I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous when I put these stained glass cookies into the oven. Would they come out  like the pretty pictures you see in magazines, or would they melt everywhere and be a Pinterest fail? Imagine my relief when I pulled the cookies out of the oven and found these beautiful little gems. If I can make picture perfect stained glass window cookies, so can you! This is a great project to do with the kids, my girls had so much fun making these with me.

A star shaped stained glass cookie on a serving plate.

How to make stained glass cookies

This recipe starts with a basic sugar cookie dough that will hold its shaped when baked. The dough needs to chill before you start rolling and cutting, so plan accordingly. I used star shaped cookie cutters here because that’s what I had on hand, but you can use any holiday cookie cutters you like, as long as you have them in two different sizes so you can cut out your windows! I press sparkling white sugar into the tops of the cookies before I fill the windows to add more sparkle. The windows are made with crushed hard candy. I used Jolly Ranchers, but you can also use Lifesavers or any other hard candy. You’ll want to separate the candies by color, then put them in a resealable bag and crush them with the flat end of a meat mallet, or a rolling pin. The candy should NOT be ground into a super fine powder, otherwise it might get over caramelized in the oven. You also don’t want huge chunks of candy, think coarse sand or small pebbles.

Stained Glass Window Cookies in various colors.

You only need to fill the centers of the cookies about 2/3 of the way full with the candy, otherwise you run the risk of it overflowing onto the cookie. I use a toothpick to gently nudge the candy into each point of the star.

A plate of star shaped stained glass cookies with colorful centers.

You’ll be rewarded for your efforts with cookies that are beautiful and delicious! These cookies keep at room temperature for about 2 days, but you should store them in a single layer or place parchment in between layers so that they don’t stick together.

If you’re looking for an impressive treat to bring to a cookie exchange this year, these stained glass cookies can’t be beat!

More holiday cookie recipes

  • Christmas Wreath Cookies
  • Peppermint Bark Cookies
  • Avalanche Cookies
  • Almond Roca Cookies
  • Chocolate Fudge Sprinkle Cookies

Stained Glass Cookies Video


These beautiful stained glass cookies are buttery sugar cookies with a candy center.
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4.85 from 13 votes

Stained Glass Cookies

These beautiful stained glass cookies are buttery sugar cookies with a candy center. A holiday classic that tastes as good as it looks!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 52 minutes
Servings 20
Calories 195kcal
Author Sara Welch

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup coarse sparkling sugar
  • 1/2 cup crushed hard candies Jolly Ranchers or Lifesavers work great, separate them by color them crush in plastic bags using a rolling pin or flat end of a meat mallet.

Instructions

  • In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. 
  • Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  • Add the vanilla and salt, then slowly mix in the flour until thoroughly combined. 
  • Remove the dough from the bowl. Place the dough on a large piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a disc. Wrap the plastic wrap around the dough and chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 day before you plan to bake your cookies.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. 
  • Divide the dough in half. Re-wrap one half of the dough and place it in the fridge. Roll the remaining dough into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle.
  • Using a 4 inch star shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many shapes as you can from the dough. Place the stars 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet, and use a 2 inch star cookie cutter to cut out your windows.
  • Re-roll the dough and repeat the process until you've filled your first baking sheet.
  • Gently press sparkling sugar into the tops of the cookies. 
  • Place the pan of cookies in the fridge and chill for 20 minutes.
  • Remove the cookies from the refrigerator. Fill each cookie 2/3 of the way full of crushed candy, using a toothpick to nudge the candy into small crevices.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are light golden brown and the candy has melted. Cool completely.
  • Repeat the same process with the other half of the dough that you previously put in the refrigerator.
  • Store covered in a single layer for up to 2 days.

Notes

Adapted from Food Network.

Nutrition

Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 28mg | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 305IU | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 1mg
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Filed Under: Baking, Dessert

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    Comments

    1. Boradeth Som says

      March 15, 2021 at 11:59 am

      Another question: should cookies be baked twice, once without candy, and then second time with candy?

      Reply
    2. Boradeth Som says

      March 14, 2021 at 12:34 pm

      How long to wait to cool after you bake the cookies with candy? Like 1 hour?

      Reply
      • Sara says

        March 14, 2021 at 6:45 pm

        They should firm up pretty quickly, I’d say 15-20 minutes.

        Reply
    3. Joy says

      December 17, 2020 at 11:51 am

      5 stars
      Great recipe and easy to follow instructions. I live at high altitudes and adjusted the baking temperature and time to 375° for 12-14 minutes.

      Reply
    4. Khasthuri says

      December 12, 2020 at 12:43 pm

      Hi! Awesome recipe, came out a treat! I did notice a fair amount of bleed on the back surface – any thoughts on why or how to stop this? The top surface looks perfect anyway so not too fussed!

      Reply
      • Sara says

        December 13, 2020 at 9:58 pm

        You could try leaving a little empty border around the crushed candy center so that when it melts it will fill in the border rather than going under the cookie!

        Reply
    5. lucy says

      September 26, 2020 at 2:55 pm

      Our British candy is all bland and drab! Thanks for the reply, I look forward to trying them for my daughter’s birthday party x

      Reply
    6. lucy says

      September 25, 2020 at 5:20 am

      hi, do you know how many packets of jolly ranchers i’ll need for these? i’m in the uk so will be buying them online as can’t find any suitably coloured candy here. thanks x

      Reply
      • Sara says

        September 25, 2020 at 1:05 pm

        Any hard candy will work! I’d buy at least a pound, because sometimes the colors aren’t evenly distributed in the bags. For example, once I bought a bag and it only had like 3 green candies!

        Reply
    7. isla says

      February 21, 2020 at 5:01 am

      11/4 teaspoon vanilla extract?
      what does that mean?

      Reply
      • Sara says

        February 22, 2020 at 9:19 pm

        1 and 1/4 teaspoons

        Reply
    8. Bonnie says

      November 23, 2019 at 10:50 am

      Can I cut out the cookies, freeze them & when needed defrost cookie cut outs & then fill centers with crushed candy & bake. Using for a cookiw walk.

      Reply
      • Sara says

        November 24, 2019 at 7:29 am

        Yes that should be fine!

        Reply
    9. Paul says

      November 15, 2019 at 7:42 am

      Can I make these ahead and freeze them?

      Reply
      • Sara says

        November 15, 2019 at 10:32 pm

        You can freeze them, just be aware that the candy might be a bit stickier when thawed.

        Reply
    10. Rhea says

      November 14, 2019 at 3:48 am

      Can I make this with sugar cookie dough (store bought)?

      Reply
      • Sara says

        November 14, 2019 at 1:15 pm

        Store bought sugar cookie dough will puff up and spread, so your shapes won’t come out clean. You could buy a bag of dry sugar cookie mix and follow the directions for cut out cookies and that will work!

        Reply
    11. Nikita says

      December 23, 2018 at 8:55 pm

      5 stars
      I make these but make two and once cool fill the hole with some edible stars and sprinkles then ice the two together it has a kind of snow globe effect 🙂

      Reply
      • Sara says

        December 23, 2018 at 9:17 pm

        That sounds amazing I’ll have to try that next time!

        Reply
    12. June says

      December 10, 2018 at 6:53 pm

      5 stars
      Ok… here we go! So far these are living up to the post… chilled for 24 hours … at first, the dough felt like a rock, but an it was so easy to work with!!! Used Russell Stover candies…(sugarless) made them a little smaller than 1/2″ and just watched from the 8min mark…crossing my fingers they taste as good as they look!! Thank you…

      Reply
      • Sara says

        December 10, 2018 at 9:01 pm

        Hope you enjoy them, thanks for reporting back!

        Reply
    13. Jessica Robinson says

      December 27, 2017 at 6:13 am

      These look pretty. Would be pretty with homemade jam too, sandwiched together.

      Reply
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