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Are you looking for stained glass heart cookies recipes because Valentine’s Day is coming up? Well these stained glass Valentine heart cookies mad with Jolly Ranchers or other hard candy are just perfect. They’re simple to make and taste great. Oh, and of course these heart shaped sugar cookies with candy windows are much better than anything from the store!
Boasting colourful candy windows, these picture-perfect little treats are irresistible!
Looking for more Valentine’s Day ideas? Try heart shaped lollipops, s’mores brownie bites, strawberry cream Rice Krispies, or make a whole homemade treat box!
These treats are soft and crumbly and the stained glass filling made with hard candy is colorful and crunchy.
Ingredients for Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies
You actually need very few ingredients for these cookies. Along with butter and sugar, you’ll need salt, eggs, vanilla, flour, and red food colouring.
Either liquid food coloring or gel food coloring will work but the gel comes out brighter and you need to use less so bear that in mind.
Since they’re made with Jolly Ranchers or other hard candy, you also need to get some of those. Any kind of hard candies would work since they just need to melt then reform in the right shape for the candy windows.
How to Make Stained Glass Valentine Heart Cookies
Start with your ingredients at room temperature so everything blends together nicely. Cream the butter with the sugar and salt for a few minutes before adding the eggs and vanilla.
Add in the flour plus a few drops of food colouring. It’s your choice whether to make these more pink or red but since you’re using red candies for the candy windows you’ll probably want to keep the cookies lighter, for a nice contrast.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and give it at least 2 hours in the refrigerator. Roll the dough out on a floured work surface and use cookie cutters to cut out heart shapes.
You can either make large hearts then cut out smaller heart shapes or else make the sugar cookies round and then cut out little hearts. Hearts are perfect from Valentine’s Day though so I love using those for my stained glass heart cookies.
Working with the Candies
Whether you prefer your heart shaped sugar cookies made with Jolly Ranchers or other hard candy, you’ll need to crush the candies first. Do this in a food processor or else simply put them in a Ziploc bag and bash them with the flat end of a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
The finer you get the candy crumbs the smoother the result will be when they melt and set into the heart shape on the cookies but don’t worry if they’re not as fine as sand! They will mostly melt and level out during cooking anyway.
Put the candy crumbs into the cut-out you made on each cookie and make sure it sits more or less in an even layer and isn’t obviously higher on one side.
Baking the Stained Glass Valentine Heart Cookies
The stained glass Valentine heart cookies will take about 10 minutes to cook. You’ll be able to see when your stained glass heart cookies are done because the edges will begin to turn golden. As soon as you spot this, they’re ready to come out of the oven!
It’s important to let the heart shaped sugar cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before trying to remove them. You don’t want to break any and they’re pretty delicate until they’ve cooled down and the candy stained glass centers have set properly.
These stained glass Valentine heart cookies are just as perfect for Valentine’s Day as Grinch cookies are for Christmas! They’re amazing made with Jolly Ranchers or other hard candy such as Lifesavers. You could even use some leftover Christmas candy canes for a minty flavour and a delicate pink colour.
I love the fact these stained glass Valentine heart cookies are such fun to make. Not only do you get to choose the size and shape of your cookies but also the exact colours you are going to use and the type of hard candy as well.
These might look as fancy as stained glass heart cookies you’d find at the bakery but they’re really straightforward to make and you don’t need any unusual ingredients or random equipment to make them either.
How to Serve Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies
These are great for Valentine’s Day as a treat or dessert. Stained glass Valentine heart cookies are also nice as a gift, perhaps wrapped in cellophane and tied with ribbons and bows.
The small cut-out pieces are mini cookies in their own right while the larger cookies with their beautiful candy windows are showcased. You’re going to love how simple this recipe is and how delicious the cookies are.
Stained Glass Valentine Heart Cookies Recipe
Stained Glass Valentine Heart Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 Cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 Teaspoon sea salt
- 2 eggs, room temperature and beaten
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
- food colouring, gel, red, no taste
- 2 ½ Cups all purpose flour, and ¼ cup divided
- 2 Cups hard candy, crushed into small chunks
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer and paddle attachment cream together softened butter, granulated sugar, and sea salt until smooth and creamy (about 3 minutes). Scrape down sides as needed and continue to mix.
- Add in beaten eggs and vanilla and mix until combined (about 1 minute or so).
- Gradually add in the flour and mix on medium-low until well combined. As you are adding in the flour, add a few drops of food coloring until you get the desired shade of red.
- Tightly wrap your dough ball in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. You can separate it into 2 balls if you prefer to work with smaller batches.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Take your dough out of the fridge.
- Use some of the extra flour to sprinkle on a clean countertop and turn the dough out onto it.
- Sprinkle the dough ball with flour and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick. Use more of the extra flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter or rolling pin.
- Use a large cookie cutter to cut out “panes” of cookie dough and transfer them to the prepared cookie sheet.
- Use a smaller cookie cutter out of the panes and remove them, adding them to the extra dough that you will roll out for more cookies or use them for smaller mini cookies.
- Place crushed hard candies in the cutout of the cookie dough panes. You want to fill it nearly full with the hard candy crumbs and be sure it is in an even layer, not mounded in the centre.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown and the candies are completely melted.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet before removing.
Nutrition
Let me know if you try to make these sugar cookies with candy windows for Valentines.
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Such a cute idea! Love the stained glass
Stained glass cookies are always so pretty and two treats in one!
How cute are these for Valentine’s Day! I would love to make them with my girls.
These look so pretty! I need to make them for my girlfriends (we are all single)
love all the color!