Stained Glass Snowflake Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg, flour and vanilla until soft dough forms. Shape dough into a ball. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour. Unwrap 16 hard candies. Crush candies and keep colors separate. Reserve remaining candies for another use.
• Heat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper. Divide dough in half. On floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with 3 1/2-inch snowflake cookie cutter with a center hole. On cookie sheet, place cutouts 2 inches apart. Place 1/4 teaspoonful of crushed candies in each cutout hole, filling full. With drinking straw, poke hole close to edge of one point for attaching ribbon after baking.
• Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until candy is melted and cookies are set. Cool until candies harden, about 4 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack; cool completely.
• Using icing tube with small round tip, decorate snowflake cookies with straight lines and dots. Immediately sprinkle with edible glitter. Let stand until icing is firm.

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:

• 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:

• Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add half of flour mixture, then 1/3 cup water, then remaining flour mixture, beating on low after each addition until just incorporated. Shape dough into 3 disks and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Working with one disk at a time, roll out to 1/4 inch thick on lightly floured parchment. Cover with a doily; gently roll to make an imprint. (Dough should now be about 1/8 inch thick.) Remove doily and freeze dough until firm, about 15 minutes. Cut dough first using a 5-inch snowflake-shaped cutter, then cut remaining dough using a 3-inch snowflake-shaped cutter and 1 1/2-inch snowflake-shaped cutter. Chill and reroll scraps. Arrange large cookies on one parchment-lined baking sheet and medium and small cookies on another; freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Bake until cookies set around edges, 16 to 18 minutes for large, 12 to 14 minutes for medium and small. Transfer cookies on sheets to wire racks; let cool completely.
• Whisk together confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. If necessary, add more milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until glaze is slightly thicker than heavy cream. Dip each cookie, design-side down, into glaze, tilting to evenly coat, then transfer to rack until glaze is set, about 10 minutes. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.