Stained Glass Ornaments Food

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.

STAINED GLASS COOKIE ORNAMENTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Divide into three portions; cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out one portion to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. ornament-shaped cookie cutters. Cut out centers with a 1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place larger cutouts 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Poke a small hole in the top of each cookie. Repeat with remaining dough; reroll small cutouts if desired. , Place the same color of hard candies in small resealable plastic bags; crush candies. Sprinkle in center of each. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 2-3 minutes or until candies are set before carefully removing to wire racks. , In a small bowl, beat meringue powder and water until soft peaks form. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Decorate cookies with icing.

STAINED-GLASS COOKIE ORNAMENTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
• In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg; beat until smooth, 1 minute.
• Add reserved flour mixture, and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla. Wrap dough in plastic, and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.
• Position two racks in oven; preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat (nonstick baking mat); set aside.
• On a well-floured work surface, roll out chilled dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out exterior shapes using a cookie cutter or templates. With a metal spatula, transfer whole cookies to the prepared baking sheets. Using tip of a paring knife, make a cutout in center of each cookie to be filled with candy. Using a straw or the narrow end of a plain round pastry tip, cut a hole in the top of each cookie for hanging.
• Chop the candies into 1/4-inch pieces. Sprinkle chopped candy in the center of each cookie, filling the hole. Transfer baking sheet to the refrigerator, and chill until cookie dough is firm, about 15 minutes. Place the baking sheet in the oven, and bake cookies until the candy has melted and completely filled the cut-out area, 6 to 8 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown, or the stained-glass effect will not be as brilliant and the candy centers may become bubbly, not clear.
• Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes, and then use a metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

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 ORNAMENT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, use a hand-held mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until well combined - about 4 minutes.
• Add in the egg and milk. Beat to combine.
• Next, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat into the butter and sugar mixture.
• The dough will be dry and crumbly at first, but keep beating until a dry dough is formed. In some cases, you might need to add one more tablespoon of milk. Knead dough to form a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
• Cut dough into 4 portions. Working with one portion at a time, roll dough to 1/4 inch thick between two sheets of parchment paper.
• Use your larger cookie cutter to cut the exterior shape of the cookie. Use your smaller cookie cutter to cut out the center. Use a metal spatula to transfer the cookie to prepared baking sheet. Save the leftover dough. Re-roll to make more cookies.
• Using a straw, push straight down to cut a hanging hole into the cookie.
• Fill the center hole with the crushed candy, using the colour of your choice. The candy should be level with the top of the cookie. A little more or less will not make a difference. If you get any candy on the cookie, use a small, clean paintbrush to brush the candy into the center hole.
• Top each cookie with a generous sprinkling of sanding sugar.
• Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet. Carefully transfer to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

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 COOKIES

Steps:

• Prepare Holiday Sugar Cookies dough as in steps 1 and 2.
• While dough is chilling, group candies by color and place in separate heavy-duty self-sealing plastic bags. Place 1 bag on towel-covered work surface. With meat mallet or rolling pin, lightly crush candy into small pieces, being careful not to crush until fine and powdery. Repeat with remaining candy.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll and cut dough as in step 3 of Holiday Sugar Cookies, but place cutout cookies on large cookie sheet lined with foil.
• With mini cookie cutters, canapé cutters, or knife, cut 1 or more small shapes from each large cookie; remove small cutout pieces and reserve for rerolling. Place some crushed candy in cutouts of each cookie. With drinking straw, make a hole in top of each cookie for hanging.
• Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool cookies completely on cookie sheet. With pancake turner, remove cookies. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.
• For wreath, tree, or window decorations, tie nylon fishing line through hole in each cookie to make loop for hanging. *Do not use red-and-white-swirled peppermint candies -- they won't melt in the oven.