Stained glass cookies are butter sugar cookies with a window cut in the middle, filled with crushed hard candy that melts in the oven and sets into clear, colored glass. This recipe makes 20 cookies and takes about 2 hours 10 minutes, most of it the 1 hour chill. They bake at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes.
The trick is patience at the end. Leave them on the baking sheet until the candy has hardened, and the windows come off the parchment whole and shiny.
From the Community: “I was skeptical at first. I wasn’t sure how the two textures would work together, but wow, these cookies are addicting! The sugar cookies are light, crumbly, with a chewy center. Plus, they’re beautiful!” (Maggie) “These were the best sugar cookies I’ve made!” (Karen)
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- Yield: 20 cookies
- Dough: 2 ¾ cups flour, 1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, rolled ¼ inch thick
- Chill: at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days ahead
- Oven: 350°F (175°C), 8 to 10 minutes, on parchment
- Setting time: 5 to 10 minutes on the sheet before you move them
- Keeps: 1 week airtight in a single layer, 3 months frozen
A Sturdy Butter Dough and a Candy Window
The frame is a plain sugar cookie dough: flour, baking powder, salt, softened butter, sugar, one egg and vanilla, with ½ teaspoon almond extract if you like that bakery flavor. It has no milk and only 1 teaspoon of baking powder, so it puffs a little but keeps its cut edge. That matters here. A dough that spreads would squeeze the window shut.
The glass is nothing more than hard candy, crushed and sorted by color. The card leaves the amount open because it depends on your window cutter. As a guide, a 2 inch window takes about 2 to 3 crushed Jolly Ranchers. If you want plain cut-outs from the same tray of dough, my sugar cookie icing that hardens gives them a smooth finish that stacks well.
Which Hard Candies Melt Clear
Jolly Ranchers are my first choice. They melt fast, the colors are strong, and the glass sets hard with a slight shine. Life Savers work too and give a softer, more pastel window. Any clear, see-through hard candy will melt into glass, while cloudy or creamy candies (butterscotch discs, peppermints with white stripes) give an opaque center.
Gummy bears and other gelatin candies do not work. They melt into a sticky puddle, stay chewy once cool and never turn clear, which is why searches for stained glass cookies with gummy bears usually end in disappointment. The same goes for caramels and soft fruit chews.
How to Make Stained Glass Cookies
Mix and Chill the Dough
Cream the butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until light, beat in the egg and extracts, then add the dry ingredients and stop as soon as no flour shows. Overmixing builds gluten and makes the frames tough. Press the dough into a disk, wrap it and chill it for at least 1 hour. Cold dough cuts cleanly and keeps its shape in the oven.
Crush the Candy by Color
Put each color in its own zip-top bag and tap it with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Aim for small, even pieces, somewhere between coarse sand and lentils. Big shards melt unevenly and leave bumps. Very fine dust melts quickly but traps lots of tiny bubbles, so the glass looks frosted. Keep the colors apart; two colors in one window melt into a muddy brown.
Cut the Windows
Roll the dough ¼ inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut the outer shape with a large cutter and the window with a smaller cutter of the same shape. Leave at least ½ inch of dough all around the window, or the thin frame can crack when you lift it. Move the cookies to a parchment-lined sheet before you fill them.
Fill, Bake and Leave Them Alone
Spoon crushed candy into each window and spread it so it sits level with the top of the dough. Too little leaves holes. Too much bubbles over the edge and caramelizes on the cookie. Bake at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are only just turning golden and the candy has melted flat.
Then wait. The candy is liquid when the tray comes out and needs 5 to 10 minutes on the sheet to harden. Lift one corner of the parchment: if the glass flexes or feels tacky, give it a few more minutes before moving the cookies to a rack.
Turning the Cookies into Ornaments
Poke the hanging hole with a drinking straw as soon as the tray leaves the oven, through the dough frame and not the candy. Once the cookies cool, the dough is too firm to pierce without cracking. Let them cool completely, then thread ribbon or string through the hole.
Hung cookies stay crisp for a few days in a dry room. Steam from a kitchen or a humid house softens the candy and it starts to drip, so treat them as decoration for the week, not the season.
When the Glass Goes Wrong
- Candy stuck to the pan: it was baked on a bare or greased sheet. Always use parchment or a silicone mat, and let the glass set before you lift.
- Bubbles in the window: pop them with a toothpick right out of the oven while the candy is still runny.
- A gap at the edge of the window: there was not enough candy. Sprinkle in a little more and return the tray for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Brown or cloudy glass: the cookies baked too long, or the colors were mixed. Pull them as soon as the candy is flat.
- Sticky centers the next day: moisture got to them. Store in a sealed tin, away from the fridge and the stove.
Flavors, Shapes and Colors to Try
Swap the almond extract for lemon or orange zest for a brighter cookie. Stars and Christmas trees with red and green windows are the obvious December choice, hearts with red candy suit Valentine’s Day, and leaf cutters with orange and yellow candy work in the autumn. If you like a filled window instead of a candy one, the same idea with jam is what makes raspberry linzer cookies.
For a full Christmas cookie plate, set these next to gingerbread man cookies and raspberry filled almond snowball cookies, which bring spice and a soft, nutty bite to contrast the crisp glass.
Keeping the Candy Centers Hard
Cool the cookies completely, then store them in a single layer in an airtight container, or stack them with parchment between the layers so the windows do not stick together. Keep them somewhere cool and dry for up to 1 week. Skip the fridge: the cold air is damp, and the candy turns tacky.
To freeze, set the cookies on a tray in one layer until solid, then move them to a freezer container with parchment between layers for up to 3 months. Thaw them inside the closed container at room temperature, so condensation forms on the box and not on the glass.
Readers Often Ask
Can you put sprinkles inside stained glass cookies?
Sprinkles on their own will not make a window, because they do not melt into clear glass. Scatter a few over the crushed candy for a confetti look, knowing the colors may bleed a little.
Can I make the dough ahead?
Yes. The wrapped dough keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days. Let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes so it rolls without cracking.
Do stained glass cookies need royal icing?
No. The candy window is the decoration, and a dusting of powdered sugar on the edges is plenty. If you want piped outlines, a thin line of royal icing on the frame works once the cookies are completely cool.
Stained Glass Cookies Recipe
These stained glass cookies are butter sugar cookies with a cut-out window filled with crushed hard candy, such as Jolly Ranchers or Life Savers, that melts in the oven into a clear, colored center. The recipe makes 20 cookies from dough rolled 1/4 inch thick, baked at 350 F for 8 to 10 minutes after a 1 hour chill. The candy must cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes so the glass hardens before the cookies are moved. Make them as stained glass Christmas cookies for cookie exchanges, gift tins and edible ornaments, with stars, trees or hearts. Store them airtight in a single layer for up to 1 week, away from humidity, or freeze for 3 months.
Ingredients
- FOR THE COOKIES
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- FOR THE STAINED GLASS
- Assorted hard candies (such as Jolly Ranchers or Life Savers), separated by color and crushed
- FOR DECORATING
- Powdered sugar (for dusting)
- Ribbon or string (if hanging as ornaments)
Instructions
- PREPARE THE DOUGH: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract if using, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing just until combined. Form the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
- PREPARE THE CANDIES: While the dough chills, place separated hard candies into zip-top bags by color. Use a rolling pin or meat mallet to crush the candies into small pieces, ensuring they are not too fine or too coarse. Set the crushed candy aside in bowls by color.
- SHAPE THE COOKIES: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to about ¼-inch thickness. Use large cookie cutters to cut out shapes, then use a smaller cutter of the same shape to cut out the centers. Transfer the cookies to prepared baking sheets and spoon crushed candy into the center of each cookie, spreading it evenly to fill the cut-out space.
- BAKE AND COOL: Bake the cookies for 8–10 minutes, or until the edges are just turning golden and the candy centers have melted. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5–10 minutes so the centers can firm up. Carefully transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
- DUST AND DECORATE: Once the cookies are completely cool, dust the outer edges with powdered sugar if desired. For ornament cookies, use a straw to poke a small hole at the top of each cookie while still warm, then thread with ribbon or string after cooling fully.
Notes
Bake the cookies only on parchment paper or a silicone mat; melted candy sticks to a bare or greased sheet. Keep each candy color separate and fill the windows level with the dough: overfilled centers bubble over and brown. Pop any air bubbles with a toothpick as soon as the tray comes out of the oven. For ornaments, poke the hole with a straw right after baking, while the cookies are still warm, then thread the ribbon once they are fully cool. Gummy or soft candies do not work; they stay sticky. To prevent sticking, roll the dough with a light dusting of flour and chill again briefly if it becomes too soft. Store in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 1 week, away from the fridge and humidity.
Nutrition Information
Yield
20Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 189Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 6gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 36mgSodium 142mgCarbohydrates 22gFiber 0gSugar 13gProtein 2g
