Stained Glass Cookies Bhg Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Before using the candy, you'll need to crush it up by placing each color you're using in a small, heavy plastic bag and pound it with a mallet.
• 2. Cookies: In a medium mixing bowl beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Cover and chill for one hour or until dough is easy to handle.
• 3. Preheat oven to 375. On a lightly floured surface roll a portion of the dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut dough using desired shape. Cut out cookie centers with smaller cutter of the same shape, leaving about 3/4 inch border of dough. Place on foil lined cookie sheet and fill center with crushed candy. (If you're going to hang the cookies, use a straw or wooden dowel to make a hole in the dough for the ribbon!)
• 4. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack; cool completely before decorating.
• 5. ROYAL ICING: In a medium mixing bowl combine meringue powder, water, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream of tartar. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined; beat on high speed for 7 to 10 minutes or until mixture is very stiff. Makes 3 cups.
• 6. Divide the icing between two small bowls; stir paste food coloring into each bowl to make desired colors. Transfer 1/4 of the icing of each color to a decorating bag; set aside. Stir a few drops of water at a time into the remaining icing in each bowl until the icing is of a flowing consistency. Spread cookies with the thin icing. Sprinkle cookies with colored sugar while the icing is wet, or allow icing to dry and pipe designs with the thicker icing in bags. If desired, add dragees while the icing is wet.
• 7. My own tip: In the photo they have outlined the edges with the royal icing of piping consistency and then filled with the royal icing of flowing consistency. If you want your icing edges to have such sharp definition like the cookies in the photo have, that's what you'll need to do instead of just spreading the icing on with a knife. But spreading is faster and still looks fabulous!!!

Steps:

• Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, mixing after each addition until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and then slowly mix in the flour until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Remove the dough, press into a flat rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Cut the dough into thirds, wrap 1 piece back in the plastic wrap and return it to the refrigerator. Dust your work surface and the remaining 2 pieces of dough well with flour and roll out each to 3/16 inch with a rolling pin, moving the dough and dusting the top and bottom with additional flour if it becomes sticky. Cut out as many large stars as possible with a 4-inch star cookie cutter and place on the prepared baking sheets. Gather the scraps and reroll once to cut out more cookies. You should have a total of 12 stars. Cut a small star out of the middle of each large star with a 2-inch star cookie cutter and reserve for another use. (You can chill and bake the small stars separately or freeze for later.) Refrigerate the baking sheets until the dough is firm, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, separate the candy by color and place each color in a separate resealable plastic bag. Place a kitchen towel over the bags and crush the candy into small pieces using a rolling pin or meat mallet; do not pulverize. Fill the cut-out areas of the cookies two-thirds full with the crushed candy.
• Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until light golden brown and the candy has melted, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat the rolling, cutting, filling and baking process with the remaining piece of dough.

Steps:

• Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until just incorporated. Divide the dough in half; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Meanwhile, separate the candy by color and place each color in a separate resealable plastic bag. Crush into small pieces using a rolling pin; do not pulverize.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, lightly dust the dough with flour and roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until about 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 15 minutes. Cut into shapes using 2-to-4-inch cookie cutters and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Gather the scraps and refrigerate until firm; reroll once to cut out more cookies. Cut out shapes from the centers of the cookies using smaller cutters; fill the cut-out areas about two-thirds full with the crushed candy. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the cookies, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until the candy melts and the cookies are just golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream margarine and dark-brown sugar until fluffy. Add molasses and beat until combined. Add flour mixture, alternating with 1/3 cup water; beating on low until combined. Divide dough in half, pat each half into a rectangle, and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Working with one piece of dough at a time, on a well-floured Silpat (a French nonstick baking mat), roll out dough to a rectangle slightly thicker than 1/8 inch. Chill for 10 minutes. Gather together scraps and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough before rerolling.
• Using a 7-inch star-shaped cutter, cut out dough. (For best results press cutter into the dough and remove the excess before taking away the cutter.) Remove centers of stars using a 3-inch star cutter. Use a skewer to make a hole in a tip of each star.
• Bake until crisp but not darkened, about 20 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool. When cookies are cool, line baking sheets with clean Silpats or parchment paper. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets; set aside.
• Prepare an ice bath; set aside. To make the caramel: Combine granulated sugar, 1/3 cup water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan, and place over medium-high heat. Stir continuously to dissolve sugar. If at any time your hand comes into contact with the hot sugar, immediately plunge it into the ice bath. This should prevent further injury. When sugar is dissolved, stop stirring. Continue to cook, without stirring, until mixture turns amber in color, 5 to 10 minutes. Occasionally wash down sides of the pan using a clean brush dipped in cold water to prevent crystals from forming.
• Carefully fill the centers of the cookies with caramel. Let stand until cool. Thread a piece of wax twine through the hole in each cookie, and tie to create a loop. Do not hang ornaments in direct light or in a humid area, as the caramel can melt.