These Eggless Stained Glass Ginger Cookies also referred as Stained Glass Window Cookies. Eggless Stained Glass Ginger Cookies are perfect as Christmas cookies. Eggless Stained Glass Ginger Cookies can be made for any occasion, any time of the year, whether to celebrate a holiday, party or other event, depending on the type of cookie cutters you use that suit the occasion. These cookies are very popular as Christmas cookies not only just because they are so colorful and festive but also they can be hung on the Christmas tree as Christmas ornaments, simply by piercing a small hole in the cookie before they’re baked, then threading some ribbon or string through the cookies once they’ve cooled.
These cookies you could also use for Valentine’s Day, you’ll likely want to use only red colored candies for the centers to fit the Valentine’s Day theme.
To create the stained-glass window effect in the cookie centers, hard candies (such as Jolly Ranchers, Life Savers, butterscotch candies or other hard clear colored candies) are crushed into small pieces, then placed into the cut-out cookie centers. While the cookies bake, the candy melts and fills in the cookie center. Once the cookies have completely cooled, the candy becomes hard again, and that colorful transparent stained window glass effect is created! You can use one or two colors with each cookie (or more if the cut-out cookie center is large enough, as long as you keep the different colored candies separate from one another.
For an added decorative effect and a touch of additional sweetness, you can decorate these Stained Glass Window Cookies with some sugar icing, even kids can decorate easily, my girls decorate all these cookies it was real fun. Whether you refer to these cookies as Stained Glass Cookies or Stained Glass Window Cookies, these colorful cookies will brighten up any occasion!
Ingredients:
For Stained Glass Cookies
• 2 cup All Purpose Flour
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup Powdered Brown Sugar
• 1-2 tbsp Molasses/Date Syrup
• 2-3 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
• ¼ tsp Nutmeg Powder
• ¼ tsp Clove Powder
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2-3 tbsp Milk
• ¼ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• 30-40 Hard Candys
For Icing Cream
• 1 cup Soft Butter
• 3 cup Confectioner Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• Food Color (as per your choice green, blue, yellow or red)
Method:
For Cookies
1. In a mixing bowl add butter, sugar, Molasses, Vanilla extract, milk and bit the mixture using a hand mixer till smooth and soft batter.
2. In another bowl add flour, baking powder, salt, all spices and mix it well.
3. Now add flour and the spices mixture into the prepared butter mixture, mix it well and make a dough.
4. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and place it into a refrigerator about 1 hr.
5. Preheat an oven on 180C/375F. Line the baking sheet(pan) with parchment paper and keep aside.
6. Remove the plastic wrapping from the hard candies. Sort the hard candies by color and place them into separate plastic bags. Crush the candies with a mallet or hammer.
7. Take the chilled dough and divide it into the 2-3 parts. Place one of the dough ball between two large sheets of waxed paper and use a rolling pin to roll out to an even thickness of ¼ inch.
8. Use cookies cutter to cut the dough into forms. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet, placing them about 1 inch apart from each other.
9. Using a smaller cookie cutter or a knife, cut shapes into centers of cookies, and then fill the crushed candy into the empty centers of the cookies, try to keep the crushed candy within the centers.
10. Bake it for 9 to 10 minutes, make sure the candy should be bubbly and the cookies just barely beginning to brown.
11. Remove the baking sheets from the oven, let it cool down completely on sheet at least 10 minutes; otherwise, the candy centers may separate from the dough. When cookies are completely cooled, remove it and keep aside.
For Icing on Cookies
12. Add soft butter in a bowl, whisk it well then add powder sugar and mix it well till light and fluffy.
13. Add vanilla extract, mix it well and divide it into 4-5 bowls, and add color and different flavor as per your choice.
14. Now add the prepared icing in piping bags separately and make a design on the cookies as per your choice.
Tips:
• If you are planning to use cookies as decorative ornaments like to hang on a Christmas tree, poke a small hole in the top of each cookie before baking.
- 2 cup All Purpose Flour
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter
- 1 cup Powdered Brown Sugar
- 1-2 tbsp Molasses/Date Syrup
- 2-3 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg Powder
- ¼ tsp Clove Powder
- 1tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2-3 tbsp Milk
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- 30-40 Hard Candys
- 1 cup Soft Butter
- 3 cup Confectioner Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Food Color (as per your choice green, blue, yellow or red)
- In a mixing bowl add butter, sugar, Molasses, Vanilla extract, milk and bit the mixture using a hand mixer till smooth and soft batter.
- In another bowl add flour, baking powder, salt, all spices and mix it well.
- Now add flour and the spices mixture into the prepared butter mixture, mix it well and make a dough.
- Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and place it into a refrigerator about 1 hr.
- Preheat an oven on 180C/375F. Line the baking sheet(pan) with parchment paper and keep aside.
- Remove the plastic wrapping from the hard candies. Sort the hard candies by color and place them into separate plastic bags. Crush the candies with a mallet or hammer.
- Take the chilled dough and divide it into the 2-3 parts. Place one of the dough ball between two large sheets of waxed paper and use a rolling pin to roll out to an even thickness of ¼ inch.
- Use cookies cutter to cut the dough into forms. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet, placing them about 1 inch apart from each other.
- Using a smaller cookie cutter or a knife, cut shapes into centers of cookies, and then fill the crushed candy into the empty centers of the cookies, try to keep the crushed candy within the centers.
- Bake it for 9 to 10 minutes, make sure the candy should be bubbly and the cookies just barely beginning to brown.
- Remove the baking sheets from the oven, let it cool down completely on sheet at least 10 minutes; otherwise, the candy centers may separate from the dough. When cookies are completely cooled, remove it and keep aside.
- Add soft butter in a bowl, whisk it well then add powder sugar and mix it well till light and fluffy.
- Add vanilla extract, mix it well and divide it into 4-5 bowls, and add color and different flavor as per your choice.
- Now add the prepared icing in piping bags separately and make a design on the cookies as per your choice.
4 Responses to “Eggless Stained Glass Ginger Cookies”
So colourful….sooo pretty! <3
thanks dear 🙂
Your glass stained cookies recipe is very interesting, will definitely give it a try.
Thanks Sundari Giri 🙂