I just watched a show on the food network about cookies. They showed a Wilton's cookie class where they were making stained glass cookies by putting hard candy inside a cutout on the cookie. That looked so cool. I want to try it. It looked like a special kind of hard candy? What is it? Where can you find, or would something else work in it's place? Thanks!

i've used Life Savers and Jolly Ranchers - nothing special!!
Just put them in a thick ziplock bag, and beat them with a rolling pin or something until they are broken up
Do each colour seperately so that you can mix them up as you need to

And make sure you put some parchment or a silpat on your baking sheet before you put them in the oven. I forgot that part once....oops!

My daughter is a chef and she said she always uses Jolly ranchers...I saw the same show and asked her the same question...they were so pretty.

I used life saver candies but I don't think I used enough.......the candies didn't seem to fill up the cut out section of the cookie.

When we were making our gingerbread catherdral we made our stained glass windows out of livesavers candy that was crushed up into almost a fine powder. When you are filling the cutout with it though, you need to be careful not to do too many colors or layers because it will all just blend together and get a dark brownish color. But they are a blast, good luck!

I'll have to add Jolly ranchers and life savers to my grocery list now! It's amazing how a simple technique could look so impressive yet be so easy!

If you did this, would you still decorate the rest of the cookie, or would it be better to keep it simple like with some colored sugar or something?

Emeril just did these on FoodTV.... I know they are pretty but do they taste good? He also did a yummy looking Italian Fig Cookie.

These are among the favorites of the Christmas cookies that I make. I use life savers. Be sure to remove any candy crumbs from on top of the cookie dough or your cookies will be dotted (no one will care, though ... .they are still good!)

Found out the hard way that you have to let them cool until the candy is hard before you take them off of the cookie sheet. Duh!! And yes, some sort of covering on the cookie sheet .... parchment, alum. foil, something.

Just did this last weekend - and I was only about 50% sure it would work, but it did. I found that the round cinnamon and butterscotch were a good match for gingerbread flavor-wise, and they both look great with the darker color of the gingerbread.

Surprisingly, the candies don't have to be all that crushed up at all - in fact, if they're crushed up too well, it's easy to drop some on the outside cookie and not notice until it's melted and shiny... and too late!

Doyou use the cookie you are usings baking directions? Same temp?

Yup. Mine was 350 for abt 10 minutes, and it really did work. I stood there to watch because I really didn't think it would get hot enough to melt the candy.

Also, I pulverized the leftover candy into powder and mixed it in the last bit of cookie dough, and that came out pretty nifty looking, too.

I used life savers and put the candy in approx. 5 minutes before the cookies where done.
I didn't crush them to good but they came out just fine.
I used the same oven temp as for regular cookies.
and yes do not forget to cover your cookie sheet.
good luck trying!
Saskia

So, I shouldn't put the candy in right away with the cookie? Do you fill the hole up with candy level with the unbaked cookie? Can I freeze them once done or would the candy crack? OK. I think I have exhausted questions. Are you just using your favorite rolled cookie? Thanks for your patience guys!! Seriously....

oh my ...first saw (and then made) these way back on original Julia Child French Chef series in the late 60s...

fun to make.

YOu must have been a child baking prodigy!! LOL! I was probably baking then too... Shhh!

I used the NFSC from kitchengifts.com but i think it it the same as the one cakecentral has.
I baked for 5 minutes and then put the candy in a little less than the hight of the cookie because while baking it sort of cooks and bubbles and you don't want to overflow.
About freezing: i have no clue never tried.

So funny during my two year stay in the states WGBH replayed al the Julia Child episodes and we had so much fun watching and also learned a lot!
You must know that we never heard of her before so especially the talking made us laugh!
Saskia

Absolutely put it in with the cookie. That way it melts completely, and also gets thin enough that the bubbles aren't trapped in the candy.

I'll freeze one this weekend and let you know what happens to the candy. I'm thinking it should be fine, but we'll sacrifice a test subject to find out.

Thank you so much! I just love this forum. Gives a newbie a sense of security.... I so appreciate all the support! Will wait to hear re the freezing. I just don't know how far in advance I want to do my baking and how long I should keep some without freezing.

I made these a long time ago when I was little...recipe said to use foil on the bottom. I imagine that Reynold's release would be perfect for this...

These stained glass cookies sound so beautiful, but I'm not sure where to begin. Could someone provide a step-by-step recipe? Would you use a sugar cookie for this? I don't use eggs in baking, so if you'd have such a recipe, that would be a bonus!

Thanks in advance!

LOL...just went to open my old Betty Crocker cookbook... and it opened right to the page where I have my original handwritten recipe for these...and funnier yet...it was the recipe right on top of the stack of papers I've shoved in.

Stained Glass Cookies

1 cup margarine
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
2 Tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt.
hard candies, crushed

cream together: margarine, shortening, sugar, honey, eggs, vanilla
add flour, soda, salt
CHILL overnight

Preheat oven 350
roll dough into ropes and use to make shapes w/ open spaces.
fill spaces w/ crushed hard candies

Bake 7-8 min.
Let cool 5 min before removing.

I think you can use any rolled cookie...sugar, gingerbread, etc. Just make a cutout in it and fill it (not all the way up but a good bit) with crushed candy like lifesavers, jolly ranchers, etc. Hard clear colored candy. Read the thread.... One baker said she did them at 350 for about 10 minutes. Candy will get bubbly and melt. Need to be sure to have something non-stick under them. I will use my silpat mats. I will cool on the mat.... Not sure if they can be frozen once made. Someone is supposed to get back to me on that. They are experimenting with one.

I've done this with LifeSavers Creamsavers, and it worked without crushing. The neat thing about it was that the swirled design of the candy made an interesting pattern in the cookie.

I found it did work best to play around with best times for melting. With some candies, if you put it in right away, it overheats and gets too hard/carmelizes (turns brown) before the cookie is done. With the CreamSavers, the goal was to melt it enough to flatten and fill the hole nicely, but not have it start bubbling, which ruined the design.

I found baking parchment to be the perfect sheet liner. Leaving the baked cookies on the baking sheets until the candy is set is critical.

So is not testing whether the candy is set too soon--with a bare fingertip. OUCH!

RedPanda

Thank you! I'll let you know how it goes!

The results are in from the experiment: the candy did, in fact, crack in the freezer, and that was after refrigerating to minimize the temperature shock. Drat.

Thank you BreeLaura.... I appreciate your experiment and letting me know. Now I will just prioritize their baking accordingly. So nice....

I love the way these cookies look, but I haven't had time to try them. I added lifesavers to my grocery list so maybe this week.