Stained-Glass Cookies

From Parents Magazine - December 2000. Jolly Ranchers make these cookies tasty as well as pretty!

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Yields: 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1⁄3 cup sugar, plus
• 2  tablespoons sugar
• 1  large egg
• 1⁄2 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1  teaspoon  lemon extract
• 1  teaspoon  grated lemon rind
• 1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
• 1 (12 ounce) bag  assorted  hard candies (we use Jolly Ranchers)

Directions

1. Beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer (set on medium speed) until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in egg, corn syrup, lemon extract and lemon rind until well-blended.
3. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour and salt.
4. Gather dough into two balls and flatten each into a disk and wrap in plastic.
5. Refrigerate dough at least one hour or overnight.
6. Soften dough slightly at room temperature before rolling out.
7. Separate candies by color and place each color inside a plastic bag - crush candies into small pieces.
8. Heat oven to 375 and line two large baking sheets with foil.
9. Between two sheets of waxed paper, roll one disk to a 1/4" thickness.
10. Using a 2 1/2" or 3" round cookie cutter or rim of glass, cut out cookies.
11. Using 1 1/2" holiday cookie cutters, make cutouts in center of each cookie.
12. Transfer cutouts to a separate baking sheet.
13. Trasfer cookies to prepared baking sheets.
14. Spoon ground hard candies into cookie cutouts - filling them completely to the same thickness as cookies.
15. Sprinkle cookies and cookie cutouts lightly with colored sugars.
16. Repeat with remaining dough disk.
17. Bake cookies and cutouts until firm and lightly golden and ground candies look translucent - about 5 minutes for cutouts and 7 to 10 minutes for cookies.
18. Cool on baking sheets.
19. Using think metal spatula, carefully remove cookies from foil.