Stained Glass Snowmen Cookies Food

STAINED GLASS COOKIES

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.

STAINED-GLASS SNOWMEN COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Roll out 1 disk on a lightly floured piece of parchment to a 1/8- to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with remaining disk. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Using a 4-inch snowman cutter, cut out snowmen. Using a small fluted or plain round cutter and #12 Ateco pastry tip (for button holes), cut out small shapes within snowmen where you want "stained glass" to appear. Transfer snowmen to parchment-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Bake 8 minutes. Fill cutouts with candy. Continue baking until cookies are firm and candies are melted, 5 to 8 minutes more. Transfer sheets to wire racks; let 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.

SNOW GLOBE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Dust a work surface with flour, then flatten the cookie dough into a rectangle and roll to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. (If the large piece dough is hard to work with, cut it into 2 equal pieces.) Use a 3 1/2-inch circle cutter to cut as many rounds as possible (you should get about 10). Transfer to a baking sheet.
• Use a 2 1/2-inch round cutter to cut the centers from the larger circles to make "O's". Using the bottom of a small gingerbread woman cutter (or other cutter with a flat base), cut the rolled center scraps into bases for the snow globes. Place the bases on the baking sheet touching the bottom of each "O" (they will fuse together when they bake). Place the cut cookies in the freezer for 20 minutes. Pat the dough scraps into a disc and chill until you can roll again and cut out more cookies to make about 1 dozen snow globes. When ready to bake, transfer the frozen cookies to 2 room-temperature baking sheets lined with parchment paper, evenly spacing 5 cookies per sheet. Bake the cookies, rotating halfway through cooking time, until crisp and golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
• For the glass centers: Set up a workspace with your decorations and cooled cookies. (You will have to work fast once the glass syrup is made.) Transfer the cookies to clean pieces of parchment set on baking sheets. Stir together the sugar and corn syrup in a 2-cup or larger glass liquid measuring cup until it looks like wet sand. Microwave until the sugar is completely dissolved and is bubbling but still clear with no caramel color, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Stir and microwave 30 seconds more. (This will depend on the power of your microwave, you want the syrup to be bubbling rapidly, but before it begins to caramelize).
• Pour the syrup into the center of 2 or 3 cookies, letting it spread to fill the entire opening. Working quickly, while the syrup is still hot and has not yet begun to harden, sprinkle with the decorations of your choice. Continue, filling a few cookies at a time and reheating the syrup in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds to keep it pourable, as necessary, until all of the glass centers have been poured.
• For the icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk to combine. With the mixer on low, add the lemon juice and 3 tablespoons water. Mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, and add about 1 to 3 tablespoons more water, a little at a time, to make an icing that drizzles slowly from a spoon dipped into the bowl. Increase speed to high and beat until the icing is very smooth, about 1 minute. Spoon half the icing into a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip. (Alternatively, transfer to a resealable plastic bag and snip off a corner.) Color the remaining icing in the bowl with red food coloring and transfer to another piping bag fitted with a small plain tip.
• Pipe the white icing on the top of the snow globes, leaving a little in the bag to decorate the glass, if desired. Pipe the red on the bases. If desired, use the remaining white icing to pipe small snowmen in the glass part of the snow globes. Let sit until the icing hardens, 20 to 30 minutes.

STAINED GLASS COOKIES

Steps:

• Using a stand mixer and paddle attachment cream together softened butter, granulated sugar, and sea salt until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down sides as needed and continue to mix.
• Add in beaten eggs and vanilla and mix until combined, about 1 minute.
• Gradually add in 2½ cups of the flour and mix on medium-low until well combined.
• Tightly wrap your dough ball in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. You can separate it into 2 balls if you prefer to work with smaller batches.
• Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove the dough from the fridge.
• Use some of the remaining flour to sprinkle on a clean countertop and turn the dough out onto it.
• Sprinkle the dough ball with some of the remaining flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick. Use more of the extra flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter or rolling pin.
• Use a large cookie cutter to cut out "panes" of cookie dough and transfer them to the prepared cookie sheet.
• Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut shapes in the middle of the panes and remove them. Add the dough that was cut out of the center back to the scrap dough that you will roll out for more cookies or use them for smaller mini cookies.
• Place crushed hard candies in the cut-out of the cookie dough panes. You want to fill it nearly full with the hard candy crumbs and be sure it is in an even layer, not mounded in the center.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown and the candies are completely melted.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet before removing.

STAINED GLASS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour. Remove the dough from the mixer and press into a rectangular shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Remove from the refrigerator and cut dough into 1/3. Roll out dough, 1 piece at a time to a 3/16-inch thickness. Cut out as many large stars as possible. Repeat with all of the dough. Cut a small triangle out of each the arms on each star.
• Place the hard candy, by color, into small plastic bags. Place a towel over the bags and crush the candy with a meat mallet. Place all of the cookies on parchment lined sheet pans. In each of the triangle holes, fill with different colors of crushed hard candy. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown, and the candy has melted.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour. Remove the dough from the mixer and press into a rectangular shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Remove from the refrigerator and cut dough into 1/3. Roll out dough, 1 piece at a time to a 3/16-inch thickness. Cut out as many large stars as possible. Repeat with all of the dough. Cut a small triangle out of each the arms on each star.
• Place the hard candy, by color, into small plastic bags. Place a towel over the bags and crush the candy with a meat mallet. Place all of the cookies on parchment lined sheet pans. In each of the triangle holes, fill with different colors of crushed hard candy. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown, and the candy has melted.

STAINED GLASS SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until well blended.
• Add flour and baking soda; mix well.
• Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Roll dough to 1/8" thickness on lightly floured surface.
• Cut into assorted shapes using 3" cookie cutters, or, drop as balls onto cookie sheet.
• Place on greased baking sheets.
• Bake 10-12 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.
• Transfer cookies to rack; immediately press about ½ t crushed candies onto each hot cookie. If the candies aren't sticking, you can also add frosting first.
• Cool completely on wire racks. (Easy way to crush the candies: Separate by color. Place each color in a resealable plastic bag and crush using rolling pin or meat mallet).