Stained Glass Hard Candy Food

STAINED-GLASS SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat to combine. Form dough into 2 disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough between floured parchment paper to 1/8-inch thickness. Stack dough in parchment on a baking sheet; refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes. With a 2 1/2-inch Christmas-ball-shaped cutter, cut out dough (reroll scraps, if desired). Place cookies, 1 inch apart, on two parchment-lined baking sheets. With a 1-inch star cutter, cut out dough in center of each cookie. Bake until cookies are pale but set, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Remove sheets from oven; fill cutouts with crushed candy. Bake until cookies begin to brown at edges and candy is melted, 3 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

STAINED GLASS COOKIES WITH JOLLY RANCHERS

Steps:

• Put brown sugar and butter into a large bowl. Mix well with paddle attachment of stand mixer, or with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is smooth.
• Break the egg into to a small bowl and whisk well with a fork. Mix the beaten egg into the butter and sugar in the bowl, a little at a time.
• Mix flour with baking powder, then stir in cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.
• Sift the dry ingredients through a fine mesh strainer into the wet ingredients.
• Add the milk then mix everything together well, using a wooden spoon by hand or the paddle attachment of the stand mixer.
• Squeeze the dough into 2 balls.
• Place each ball of dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll out 1/4 inch thick.
• Keep sheets of dough between parchment and place in the fridge on a baking sheet or cutting board. Chill 15 minutes.
• Use a larger cookie cutter to cut out your cookies. Remove scraps of dough from around the cookies and place cookies on parchment lined baking sheet.
• Then use smaller cookie cutter to cut out the center of the cookies. Use a toothpick to help remove the center if needed.
• If you want your cookies to be ornaments, make a hole in each cookie by pressing a drinking straw or the point of a chopstick through the dough where you want to hang it. Make sure there is a thick enough area of dough to not break.
• Divide candy by color into resealable baggies. Squeeze air out, close baggies, and hit with a meat mallet, rolling pin, or back of a metal measuring cup to crush candies.
• Carefully spoon crushed candies into the cut out in the cookies. Try using complimentary colors if mixing (like half blue and half green).
• Place baking sheet in fridge for 10 minutes while you preheat oven to 350°F.
• Squeeze the scraps of dough into a ball. Roll out the dough again between parchment paper and chill.
• Take sheet of prepped cookies from the fridge and put the cookie sheet on the middle rack of the oven.
• Bake the cookies at 350°F for 10-12 minutes, until candy is melted and cookie edges are just turning golden.
• Take the cookies out of the oven nd leave on the baking sheets until they have cooled completely, then remove carefully.
• You can now eat the cookies, or make them into ornaments by stringing a ribbon through each hole.

STAINED GLASS CANDY I

Steps:

• Lightly grease one 12x18 inch or larger baking sheet.
• In a large heavy saucepan, combine the water, sugar and corn syrup. Heat over high, stirring constantly with a heat resistant spoon, until all sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring and bring to a boil. Boil until a candy thermometer reads 310 degrees F (154 degrees C). Remove from heat.
• When bubbling has ceased, stir in the flavoring and a food coloring. Spread into the prepared pan so that the candy is no more than 1/4 inch thick. Cool for 45 minutes in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator, crack into pieces and enjoy!

STAINED GLASS CANDY

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and sift powdered sugar all over the entire pan. Set aside
• In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, add the water, white sugar, and corn syrup. Heat over medium heat while stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Once the sugar is dissolved, insert a candy thermometer and let the mixture come to a boil. Do not stir while the mixture is boiling. (Make sure that the candy thermometer is not touching the bottom of the pan)
• Let the mixture boil undisturbed until the thermometer reaches 300 degrees.
• Remove the pan from the heat and add in the food coloring and flavoring. Stir until combined.
• Pour the candy mixture onto the pan with the powdered sugar. Let the candy completely cool for at least one hour. (You can tilt the pan to spread out the candy but make sure you are wearing good oven mitts!)
• Once the candy has completely set and cooled for an hour, take a meat mallet and hit the candy all over to create cracked stained glass pieces.
• Shake off excess sugar and store in a sealed container.

STAINED GLASS COOKIES

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.

STAINED GLASS HARD CANDY

Steps:

• 1. Cook sugar, water and corn syrup in 3 quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until sugar is dissolved. Cook WITHOUT STIRRING to 310 degrees on a candy thermometer.
• 2. Pour powdered sugar onto cutting board or marble slab while candy is cooking. Shape into rectangle 12x11 inches, BUILD UP THE SIDES.
• 3. Remove hot syrup from heat, stir in desired flavoring and color. Pour CAREFULLY onto powdered sugar rectangle. Cool slightly. Cut into 3/4 inch strips. Cool. Break into pcs.

STAINED-GLASS ORNAMENTS

Steps:

• 1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.
• 2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and molasses and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in the water. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture until a soft dough forms.
• 3. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• 4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil.
• 5. Divide the dough into thirds. Divide each third into 10 equal pieces. Using your palms, roll each piece on a lightly floured work surface into a rope 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter. Gently trace the design of your choice onto the prepared cookie sheets (a wooden spoon handle or chopstick works well for tracing on foil). Outline each design with a rope of dough, pressing the ends together to seal securely.
• 6. Sprinkle the inside of each design with the crushed candies, dividing the candies evenly among the outlined designs and creating an even layer.
• 7. Bake in the center of the oven or until the edges of the cookies are golden and the candy has melted, 6 to 9 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets on wire racks until the candy hardens, about 5 minutes. Gently peel the foil away from the cookies and transfer to the racks to cool completely.

BEAUTIFUL STAINED-GLASS HARD CANDY

Steps:

• To make your own molds from foil: Cut aluminum foil in desired shapes: stars, trees, etc. Grease foil lightly with vegetable oil. Fold up edges to make 1/2" sides. Seal corners with freezer tape to prevent leaks.
• You can also pour this candy onto a greased cookie sheet to make your own shapes. Score the candy while it's still warm (be careful not to burn your fingers) so you can break it on the score lines. I've even used mint containers as molds.
• To make the candy: In a 2-quart saucepan combine sugar, syrup, water and vinegar. Cook, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking, without stirring, until it reaches the hard crack stage (300F degrees).
• Remove from the heat, stir in the flavoring and color. Allow the candy to cool SLIGHTLY. Pour the candy into prepared molds, about 1/8" deep. When firm, remove from the molds.
• If you wish to hang the finished candy on a string or ribbon: when the candy begins to set (before it hardens) use a skewer to make holes for stringing.
• If candy becomes too firm to pour and shape it, then remelt it over low heat. Be careful not to boil it.
• Tips for other color combinations: Use a toothpick to swirl food coloring through the uncolored candy after it's been poured into molds. Make molded candies of one color and dribble with a second color to get a "stained glass" effect. To store candy ornaments, wrap them in plastic wrap and store in a covered container at room temperature in a dry place. Keep them flat to prevent warping.

SEA GLASS CANDY

Steps:

• It's sea glass you can eat! To make it, crush 1 cup blue hard candies (such as Jolly Rancher) and microwave in 30-second intervals until melted. (Be careful, the molten candy will be super-hot!) Immediately pour onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and let harden, 15 minutes. Repeat with green candies and a mix of blue and green. Remove from the parchment and rub the candy with confectioners' sugar, then break into pieces.

STAINED GLASS CANDY

Steps:

• Butter a 15x10x1-in. pan; set aside., In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 300° (hard-crack stage)., Remove from the heat; stir in oil and food coloring (keep face away from mixture as oil is very strong). Immediately pour into prepared pan; cool. Break into pieces. Store in airtight containers.