These are such pretty cookies. I’ve made them for Valentine’s Day previously using heart cutters and they are always well received. I’ve stated that the recipe makes about 32, but I actually didn’t use my whole batch of dough. It was about 36°C on the day I baked them and my dough was melting so quickly I gave up after cutting out the 6 I used in the photo. I put the rest of the dough in the freezer for another day.

I tested out using a whole lolly in the centre of one of the cookies and it did get filled a little more than the rest but still looked ok. If you don’t feel like crushing the lollies up, then test a few using whole lollies first and you may find you don’t need to crush them at all.

Stained Glass Cookies
makes about 32

250g (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup (160g) caster sugar*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
2 1/3 cups (350g) plain flour
100g (about 30) boiled lollies (hard candies)

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Gently fold in the flour.

Knead on a floured surface until smooth. If your dough is very soft and sticky, work in a little more flour until it is barely sticky. Shape into a disc and cover with cling wrap. Chill in the fridge for 30 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

To break up the lollies, unwrap and put into a ziploc bag and bash with a rolling pin or flat side of a meat mallet. You may want to sort them into colours first and break each one up separately.

Roll the dough out between 2 sheets of baking paper to 4mm (3/16″) thick. Cut out cookie shapes. I used a 10cm (4″) tree cutter and a 4cm (2″) cutter for the middle.  Chill for about 10 mins in the fridge to firm up and then place the cookies on baking trays.

Fill the middle of the cookies with the pieces of crushed lollies. I make a little mound in the centre and it melts and fills the hole evenly.

Bake for about 12 mins or until golden. Cool on trays.

* Caster sugar is a fine granulated sugar. If you can’t get a hold of it, you can use regular white sugar instead.