These stained glass cross cookies are buttery shortbread tasting cookies, with a stained glass cross in the middle made from crushed up candies. These cookies are perfect for Easter, a baptism, or a Sunday brunch.
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✝️Beautiful cross cookies
These stained glass cross cookies are so fun to make and look amazing on a cookie platter. These would be so fun to make with children too, just like this recipe!
These cookies are buttery and tastes a lot like shortbread. The cookie dough does not spread at all in the oven, so are great for cut out cookies.
I used Jolly Ranchers for the stained glass effect in these cookies. You can probably use any kind of clear hard candy, but I haven't tried any others myself. Jolly Ranchers work really great, and I love their colours!
I used this cross cookie cutter set for these cookies, and used the smallest one in the set to cut out the shape for the stained glass. I love how these turned out and I hope you will too!
🥘Ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Unsalted butter - You can substitute with salted butter. Omit the extra salt in the recipe.
- Jolly Rancher candies - I found these worked really good. If you can't find them, any hard candy should work.
🔪Instructions
Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Mix butter and sugar together in a large bowl until well combined. About 2 minutes of mixing. Add in egg and vanilla extract and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Scoop cookie batter out onto a large square of plastic wrap. Form into a rectangle, wrap it up, and store in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.
After cookie dough has hardened, remove ⅓ of the dough and put the rest back in the refrigerator. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to½" thick. Use the large cross cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Place them on parchment lined baking sheets. Reroll up cookie dough until it's all used.
Use the small cross cookie cutter to cut out the middles of the cross. Place baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up before baking.
Remove baking sheet from the refrigerator. Add crushed up jolly ranchers to the cut out middles of the cross cookies. Try not to add too many, or the candy will overflow.
Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 8-10 minutes. If there is not enough candy coverage to the middle cross in the cookies, you can remove the baking tray partly through baking, and add more candy.
Remove baking sheets from the oven, and let the cookies get to room temperature on their baking sheets for at least 20 minutes before removing them.
✔️Expert Tips
- Try not to get any Jolly Rancher bits on top of the cookie. It'll make the cookies look messy.
- I used Jolly Rancher candies in this recipe and recommend using them for best results. Any clear-ish candy should work though. Let me know what you try!?!
- You can pop any air bubbles in the candy when the cookies come straight out of the oven. Use a pin or other sharp object.
- Make sure to leave the cookies to cool on their baking sheets. The candy needs time to set and cool.
💭FAQs
This dough can be used for regular cut out sugar cookies too!
You can cut out the cross shapes and freeze them unbaked for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight, cut out the middle sections, fill with candy pieces, and bake.
These cookies last for up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
You can also make the cookie dough the day before. Store in the refrigerator overnight. Alternatively, you can freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months.
🔖Related Recipes
📋 Recipe
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Stained Glass Cross Cookies
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 20 Jolly Rancher candies crushed up
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Mix butter and sugar together in a large bowl until well combined. About 2 minutes of mixing.
- Add in egg and vanilla extract and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Scoop cookie batter out onto a large square of plastic wrap. Form into a rectangle, wrap it up, and store in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.
- After cookie dough has hardened, remove ⅓ of the dough and put the rest back in the refrigerator.
- Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to½" thick. Use the large cross cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Place them on prepared baking sheets. Reroll up cookie dough until it's all used.
- Use the small cross cookie cutter to cut out the middles of the cross. Place baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up before baking.
- Remove baking sheet from the refrigerator. Add crushed up jolly ranchers to the cut out middles of the cross cookies. Try not to add too many, or the candy will overflow.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. If there is not enough candy coverage to the middle cross in the cookies, you can remove the baking tray partly through baking, and add more candy.
- Remove baking sheets from the oven, and let the cookies get to room temperature on their baking sheets for at least 20 minutes before removing them.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Try not to get any Jolly Rancher bits on top of the cookie. It'll make the cookies look messy.
- I used Jolly Rancher candies in this recipe and recommend using them for best results. Any clear-ish candy should work though. Let me know what you try!?!
- You can pop any air bubbles in the candy when the cookies come straight out of the oven. Use a pin or other sharp object.
- Make sure to leave the cookies to cool on their baking sheets. The candy needs time to set and cool.
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️