Stained Glass Window Cookies - Look Like a Christmas Cookie Goddess the Easy Way

So much cooking, so little time for blogging. Reagan and I are wandering around our favorite Puget Sound city today: the infamous Bellingham (home to Death Cab for Cutie!), and I had the chance to snap some pictures of some of the local wonders. But alas! They will have to wait for another post. The expiration date on Christmas cookie posts is coming fast!

Stained glass window cookies have become my all-time favorite Christmas cookie recipe. They're way easier than the traditional cutouts with elaborate frosting, they're arguably prettier, and they're very unique. Mom and I discovered them in a seasonal cookie magazine years ago, and I've tended to make these rather than frosted cookies to cut back on time.

Use the Cream Cheese Cut-Out recipe from my previous post for the dough and roll out as directed. Now, using either small cookie cutters or a knife, cut small shapes out of the centers of your cookies, being careful not to cut out too large of a space.

I have tiny sun, moon and stars cookie cutters at my mom's house I usually use with square or rectangular cookies, but this year the only Christmas-y cutter I had was a star, so I cut the centers out by hand.

The rest is easy. Lay the cookies out on parchment paper (the parchment paper is an absolute must! Otherwise the candy will melt to your pan and you'll never get them off in one piece). Grab a bag of jolly ranchers, unwrap and separate the candies into their respective colors. Place the colors one at a time into a zip lock baggie and smash them into very small bits with your rolling pin. This is the part where my husband always pokes his head out of wherever he is and asks if everything is okay. Just making cookies!

Once you've got your candies smashed, divvy them out into the holes you've cut in your cookies. The cutouts don't need much candy, and of course it depends on the size of the cutout; as a rule of thumb, a little pile of candy pieces which takes up most of the hole will be plenty. Don't use too much, or the candy will run over the top of the cookie.

Now Bake them in the oven at the same time and temperature you would regular cutouts. Generally, you can tell the cookies are done when the candy in the center starts to bubble and boil. Let them cool for a few minutes before peeling them from the parchment paper.

Stained glass window cookies!

I have pictures for a thumbprint cookie recipe also, and I have yet to make my signature peppermint biscotti. It seems like the holidays whiz by faster every year! With any luck I'll get a few more posts in before Christmas...

Happy Holidays!