Its That Cookie Time of Year

Every year I like to bake lots of candy and cookies for Christmas.  Last year I didn't get to because I was newly pregnant and sooo sick.  Russ and I plan on making up for it this year by making even more than normal.  We started trying out some different recipes this week.  This is one of my favorites, and the kids really seem to like them, so I'm going to share. 

These are called stained glass cookies.  Start out with some sugar cookie dough.  You can either buy the store bought dough or you can make your own.  I use this recipe:

Mix 1 softened cup butter & 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy.  Fold in 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract & 1 egg yolk.  Mix in 2 1/4 cups flour until dough forms a ball.  Refridgerate for 2 or more hours.

Preheat the over to 375.  The store-bought dough directions call for less, but you need to use 375!! 

This is the fun part:  take some Jolly Ranchers in colors of your choice and crush them up in a food processor.  Keep your colors seperate.  If you don't have a food processor, you can put them in a plastic bag and use a hammer.  You can use almost any hard candy.  We used candy canes for some of them.

Now, take your home-made or store-bought dough out of the refridgerator, knead until softened, and roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured counter.  Take a cookie cutter and cut out your shapes.  Place the cut-outs on parchment paper and place it on a cookie sheet.  If you don't use parchment paper, the candy will stick to the cookie sheet & not come off.  Use a smaller cookie cutter (or a knife) and take the center out of the cookie.

Take your crushed up candy, sprinkle it into the holes in the cookies.  Fill the holes completely! 

Bake at 375 for 7 to 10 minutes.

I didnt have cookie cutters, so I had to shape mine by hand.  The shapes turned out kind of funny, but you get the idea.