One of my favorite ways to use up left over Halloween hard candy like broken lolly pops, jolly ranchers and life savers is to crush the candies up and make stained glass cookies! The more colors you have, the more you can do! This is a great project to get the kids to help out with!
You can use any cut out cookie recipe as a base - gingerbread, sugar, etc. You can even use store bought cookie dough if you want the effect without the extra work of making the dough
Here's what I use:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 cups sifted flour
Pre-heat your oven to 325F
Mix the butter, sugar and honey in a large bowl. Add the water and vanilla and stir until smooth.
Combine salt, baking soda, and flour in a separate bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture a little at a time.
Knead the dough between your fingers.
Put it in the freezer to chill for at least 10 minutes.
While the dough chills, separate the candy by color into baggies. Crush candies with a hammer or other object.
Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick.
Using cookie cutters, cut out the shapes you want and then using a paring knife cut small places out of the cookie where you will add in your colors.
If you plan to hang your cookies, use a straw to make a hole in the top of the cookie.
Place cookies on a pan lined with aluminum foil, parchment or a silpat.
Put crushed candy in the center and bake cookies according to package instructions.
Bake the cookies for 8-12 minutes, until just browned and candy is melted. Cool the cookies for at least 45 minutes before handling - you want to make sure the candy has set.
Once the cookies have cooled, peel them off the backing and use them as window ornaments, on your tree - hang them near a light, or just eat and enjoy.
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