We came home from a day with family in Chicago and our upstairs toilet didn't work. It's not a great style of toilet but we figured we'd get it sorted out on Saturday (Christmas Eve). That morning - the shower didn't work. More investigating told us we had a frozen burst pipe. Guess how hard it is to find a plumber on Christmas Eve? Well we found one!! But he strung us along ALL day saying he would come - and didn't. Andy turned our water off and drained the lines to avoid damage... and we persevered. We had cookies to bake for Santa. These Stained Glass Cookies. Nicholas hadn't been feeling well and this project perked him up. We had so much fun cutting out cookies and smashing candy to bake inside the windows. We were almost late for church that night! So many fun cookie creations, so worth and afternoon to play together instead of worrying about a plumber that never showed up. Fast forward to Tuesday morning - it finally was fixed by a family friend. Our waterless Christmas! What an adventure and reminder how thankful we are for something a simple as water.
Stained Glass Cookies
15-20 hard candy smashed into small bits.
1 cup unsalted butter left out at room temperature for 10 minutes
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all purpose flour
In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined.
Slow the mixer to low, then add in the flour until combined, but don't overmix.
Add the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap in the shape of a large rectangle (easier to slice into 4th's), wrap it up, then place it in the fridge for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
On a floured surface, slice off a 4th of the cookie dough (place the other 3/4's back in the fridge while you work on this 4th), and roll it out into a 1/4 inch thick slab on a floured surface.
Working quickly, cut out the gingerbread men, then place them onto the prepared cookie sheet. Combine the trimmings of the dough, roll them out, then cut out even more gingerbread dough shapes. Repeat until all the remaining dough has been used from the original 4th of the dough we're working with.
Use a heart cookie cutter to cut out a heart shape inside the chest of the gingerbread men.
Scoop in a few jolly rancher pieces into the heart cut out shape.
Place the entire sheet into the freezer for 5 minutes, then bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are slightly under-baked and NOT golden brown on the edges.
Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet (so that the stained glass centers can cool and harden again). Then use a spatula to scoop up the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container up to a week for maximum freshness and texture.
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