The Best Way to Make Stained-Glass Cookies (Jolly Rancher Cookies) as Tested by Our Kitchen

Instead of cupcakes this year, my daughter asks for Jolly Rancher Cookies for her birthday class treat.

Stained Glass Cookies 

We tried several different ways to make these delicious and beautiful cookies, and we'd like to report our technique. Every other way we tried resulted in a big mess, but finally, we figured out what to do.

First, cut out your sugar cookie dough into a shape, and then cut out a smaller shape within that shape. On a piece of greased parchment paper, put down your cookie cut outs and fill them with crushed Jolly Rancher candies on a baking stone.  (No grease or parchment = sticky mess. No crushed candies = strange melting patterns.)

We used two crushed candies for each cookie. We used solid colors but also varied patterns.

We baked them for exactly 7 minutes at 400 degrees. We let them cool for 10 minutes. (Without cooling, you'll have a sticky, dripping mess). Then, peel the parchment paper from the cookies. Enjoy! They are so fun--soft and crunchy and full of flavor.

To my unexpected repertoire of class treats (hamburger cupcakes, green apple cupcakes, ice-cream cone cupcakes, Boo platters, etc), I'm adding stained-glass cookies. I think they are just beautiful!