Cindy "TheSweetNerd" Rodriguez I’ve got little green rascals on the brain…! With St. Patty’s Day fast approaching, I thought these Green Glass Cookies would be a fun way to get my boys into the kitchen. Their jobs are to cut out the sugar cookies and help me crumble and melt candy to make the shapes look like stained glass. Kids or no kids, these green beauties are super easy to put together.
You know, I’ve got a rascal myself, his name is Gavin and he turns 11 ON St. Patrick’s Day. So yes, he’s naturally very, very lucky. For his birthday treat last year I made these yummy Surprise Inside Cupcakes with Lucky Charms. Me thinks these cookies might make it into Gav’s fifth grade classroom for a little birthday celebration. Oh lucky day!
THE SUGAR COOKIE
The first step is making the cookie, which is basically the same recipe as my Perfect Sugar Cookie recipe. I use it all the time, it’s easy and delish. Wrangle the little leprechauns in your family and have them cut out St. Patty’s designs with cookie cutters.
Stick the lollipop sticks into the cookies before baking, then bake for 6 minutes at 350 F.
STAINING THE GLASS
Here’s the fun part for the kiddies. Take the supply of green watermelon Jolly Ranchers and smash with a mallet.
After the cookies have baked for 6 minutes, fit the chunks of candy inside the shapes. Bake for an additional 4 minutes.
Making the cookies is the easy part. The question is, how many cookies can a fifth grader inhale in less than five minutes?
OUR FAVES
- R & M Cookie Cutters
- Wilton Lollipop Sticks
- Bonjour Fete Green Fans
Photos by: Maria Hedrick Photography
1Dries: Whisk flour and salt in a bowl. Set aside. 2Base: In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Next, add eggs, vanilla. 3Gradually, add dries to base just until incorporated. Chill in refrigerator up to one hour. Roll on lightly floured surface. Cut shapes. 4Bake at 350F for 6 minutes. Hammer down the jolly ranchers and place inside cookie cutouts. 5Bake for an additional 4 minutes. Let cool and insert a lollipop stick.Directions
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This is so clever and they are so stinkin’ cute! Plus I bet my kids would be excited to smash the jolly ranchers! Love this! <3
Thanks Christina! I’m sure your kids would love it. Really any age can take part. Disclaimer: watch little fingers.;)
I love using the Jolly Ranchers for the “stained glass”. Totally translatable to other holidays with other colors and shapes. Awesome!
Absolutely, Tessa. Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and of course the winter holidays.
These are so darn cute! I love how easy they are. I’ve tried making stained glass cookies before and it didn’t work too well. I was thinking it’s because I used big chunks of jolly rancher or because I used a premade sugar cookie dough that I bought? Any thoughts? Love this idea though!
It depends on where the cookie failed (I say that lovingly, I’m a fan of failing). I always think starting from scratch with the dough helps to manage the baking time, and yes make sure you’re smashing down the candy so that it’s flat enough to melt smooth.
These are just so cute! I am not skilled in things like these, I’m not sure I could pull it off 🙂 Great idea for those more artisticly capable LOL!
No, and I’m serious when I say this: you can do this recipe! It really takes no time at all, plus mashing the candy is a good way to get out stress. 🙂
These are so cute!!!!! I love the shamrock stain glass theme it so cute!!!!!!
Thanks Deanna!
What a fun Holiday Cookie! I have to try these out!
They are super fun – if you try them out please let me know. I would love to hear how they turned out.
These are so fun!! Your son is very lucky in more ways than one 🙂
Aw thanks Sues. He’s definitely my leprechaun.
Love this idea! The stained glass turned out super colorful and creative — even outside of St. Patty’s Day, I’d love to play around with this recipe.
Yes, I would first check out the colors offered by Jolly Ranchers or other melting candies. Then plan out which holiday you want to tackle.
I love this and how you could make these year-round. Do you need to put them on parchment in the cookie sheet when baking? Just wondering how easy they are to remove from the cookie sheet after the candy has melted.
Great point Lorna. Yes, please do yourself a favor and use parchment. The hardened candy comes off parchment no problem.