This project is part of The Proper Pinwheel’s holiday series, Mission: Merry 2012.

We are just loving cookies around here. From the spritz cookies this morning, to these fun stained glass beauties, there is a cookie here for everyone. Take the sugar cookie dough (recipe here) and make fun cut-outs and decorate your cookies like crazy!

To make your own stained glass cookies you’ll need:

• sugar cookie dough
• assorted cutters (mine from Sur La Table)
• jolly ranchers
• peppermint candies

Roll out your the sugar cookie dough to 1/8 – 1/4 inch thickness. Place on lightly floured saran-wrap. Seal and chill for 15-20 minutes. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and cut out cookies in assorted shapes and sizes. Using small cutters or a knife, Remove the center of each cookie. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees F for 6 minutes.

While cookies are in the oven crush assorted jolly ranchers and/or peppermints. After 6 minutes, remove cookies from oven and sprinkle jolly ranchers and peppermints in center of each cookie. Return cookies to oven and do not look away! Candy will melt and start to bubble. It will usually fill the center (but don’t burn!) after 3 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and let cool.

To make the circular peppermint cookies, cut out a circle in the center of each cookie that is slightly larger than the peppermint. Bake cookies for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and place peppermint in center of each cookie. Return to the oven and watch the peppermint melt. Don’t remove until the peppermint has filled the center. This usually takes 3-5 minutes.

Now you have some gorgeous stained glass cookies! Seriously. The cuteness factor just went up, like, 100 points!

Don’t want to worry about crushing your candies? Color the dough instead! Cut out in different shapes, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Place different shapes on top of each other, making sure that top layer isn’t too thick. Baking fuses the two layers together. Fun, right? Spend an afternoon in the kitchen and whip out hundreds of little cookies. Your neighbors will LOVE you for it. 🙂

photo cred: all photos by The Proper Pinwheel