A fun and unique Christmas cookie recipe, these Stained Glass Sugar Cookies are super easy to make with the kids. You can make the windows all one color or add a mix of different candies to make marbled stained glass cookies!

Stained Glass Cookies Recipe

This stained glass sugar cookie recipe has to be one of my daycare kids’ favorite recipes that we’ve ever made!

They loved getting to make the super simple sugar cookie dough, help roll it out and cut into star shapes and then use their rolling pins to crush up candies and sprinkle them in the centers of the cookies.

I also let them go to town with pre-made frosting and sprinkles after the cookies were baked.

You can make these cookies in just about any shape as long as you have a large and a small cookie cutter in that shape. (You could technically cut out the center using a sharp kitchen knife, but that’s way too tedious for me.)

These unique sugar cookies combine a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookie with a crunchy, fruit-flavored candy center.

We used Jolly Ranchers but you can use any opaque hard candy to achieve a similar effect.

Can this cookie dough be frozen? The unbaked dough can be frozen for up to a month. Some people may say that the cookie dough can be frozen for up to three months, but you will see a quality loss around the 2 month mark.

I don’t recommend freezing the baked cookies, as the candy windows will melt when brought back to room temperature.

 More Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipes

• Sugar Cookie Truffles
• Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
• Christmas Sugar Cookie Cake
• Peppermint Pinwheel Sugar Cookies
• Jack Skellington Sugar Cookies
• Glitter Sugar Cookies
• Glazed Sugar Cookies
• Eggnog Sugar Cookies

Stained Glass Window Cookie Ingredients

• All-purpose Flour, plus more for rolling
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Unsalted butter, room temperature
• White Sugar
• Large Egg, room temperature
• Vanilla Extract 
• Jolly Ranchers <– can use any opaque, colored candies

Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.

Tip: you can also make these sugar cookies using pre-made sugar cookie dough.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

• Measuring cups and spoons
• Mixing bowl
• Electric mixer <– this is a great hand mixer if you don’t want to make the investment into a stand mixer
• Cutting board
• Rolling pin
• Two Star Cookie Cutters – one large and one small
• Parchment Paper
• Cookie Sheets
• Cooling racks <– I have and love these tiered cooling racks, they save so much counter space and are also oven-safe

How to Make Stained Glass Sugar Cookies

Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer for two minutes until light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs and vanilla until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder and then slowly add it to the sugar-butter mixture.

Once all of the flour is incorporated into the dough, form the sugar cookie dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes before cutting into shapes.

Meanwhile, place the candies into baggies and crush with a kitchen mallet or roller.

For the shapes, select two similar-shaped cookie cutters of varying sizes to create a “window” or hole in the center that echoes the shape of the cookie.

Place the cookies on a lined baking sheet and carefully fill the centers with 1-2 teaspoons of the crushed candies.

Bake 350F for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden.

They will almost look under cooked but still remove them from the oven to prevent burning.

 

Pin this Stained Glass Cookie recipe for your holiday baking:

Grab your free printable for our stained glass window cookies recipe:

I hope your family loves getting to make these fun stained glass sugar cookies as much as mine did!

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