Simple Savory & Satisfying: Stained Glass Cookies

Stained glass cookies are just so pretty and unique. I was fascinated by them the very first time I saw them on Pinterest. Well, this year I decided to give them a try. I used my own sugar cookie recipe instead of the one I commonly saw attached to stained glass cookie recipe because: a) my sugar cookie recipe is the best and b) I read some reviews that said the other recipe didn't taste very good. However, I will confess that my sugar cookie recipe dirties an awful lot of dishes, but the cookies are worth the mess.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 teaspoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
Jolly Ranchers, crushed (or any other hard, transparent candy)

Directions:
Medium Bowl: Combine flour, tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Small Bowl: Stir together eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Set aside.

Large Bowl: Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed for approximately 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Alternating, add a little bit of the flour mixture then a little bit of the egg mixture to the butter mixture while beating. Once ingredients are combined, wrap the dough in wax paper and chill for 2 to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. {I like to roll out dough between two lightly floured pieces of waxed paper}. Use cookie cutters to make cookies. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper {cookies are hard to transfer if you cut out center before placing them on the pan, I learned this the hard way}. Use second, smaller cookie cutter to cut out center of cookies. Completely fill the center of the cookies with the crushed candy. Be carefully not to get any candy on top of the cookie; the candy will color whatever it touches.

Bake for 5 to 7 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are a light golden brown. The candy in the center will bubble but that is okay. It will flatten out once it begins to cool.

Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for at least five minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. {I found it best to transfer the sheet of parchment paper with the cookies on it to the wire rack, cool for about 5 to 10 minutes, then reuse the parchment paper for the next batch of cookies, but this isn't necessary.}

Tip: To crush the Jolly Ranchers, place them in a ziplock baggie and hit them with a meat mallet or a hammer.

UPDATE: Well, lesson learned. Store the cookies in the fridge or a cool place. I had mine in an airtight contained on the dining room table (which tends to be a very warm room) and the centers melted.