I don't want to freak anyone out...but these are so easy to make it's almost scary.
We've been making some Edible Stained Glass Gingerbread Ornaments today in preparation for the next segment I'll be doing on Fox 10 this upcoming week with the kids. I first saw these Stained-Glass Ornaments on Epicurious.com.
Stained-Glass Ornaments
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used white sugar)
3/4 cup unsulfured molasses ( I used maple syrup)
1/3 cup water
6 ounces translucent hard candies in colors of choice, crushed (in a food processor)
Preparation1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and molasses and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in the water. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture until a soft dough forms.
3. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Divide the dough into thirds. Divide each third into 10 equal pieces. Using your palms, roll each piece on a lightly floured work surface into a rope 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter. Gently trace the design of your choice onto the prepared cookie sheets (a wooden spoon handle or chopstick works well for tracing on foil). Outline each design with a rope of dough, pressing the ends together to seal securely.
6. Sprinkle the inside of each design with the crushed candies, dividing the candies evenly among the outlined designs and creating an even layer.
7. Bake in the center of the oven or until the edges of the cookies are golden and the candy has melted, 6 to 9 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets on wire racks until the candy hardens, about 5 minutes. Gently peel the parchment away from the cookies and transfer to the racks to cool completely.
Cookie Exchange Tip:
To make this cookie into a tree ornament, attach a loop made from the dough to the top of each cookie before baking. After the cookie is baked, thread a piece of ribbon through the loop and tie the ribbon in a bow. To make these ornaments at a party, prepare the cardboard patterns in advance.
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and molasses and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in the water. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture until a soft dough forms.
3. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Divide the dough into thirds. Divide each third into 10 equal pieces. Using your palms, roll each piece on a lightly floured work surface into a rope 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter. Gently trace the design of your choice onto the prepared cookie sheets (a wooden spoon handle or chopstick works well for tracing on foil). Outline each design with a rope of dough, pressing the ends together to seal securely.
6. Sprinkle the inside of each design with the crushed candies, dividing the candies evenly among the outlined designs and creating an even layer.
7. Bake in the center of the oven or until the edges of the cookies are golden and the candy has melted, 6 to 9 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets on wire racks until the candy hardens, about 5 minutes. Gently peel the parchment away from the cookies and transfer to the racks to cool completely.
Cookie Exchange Tip:
To make this cookie into a tree ornament, attach a loop made from the dough to the top of each cookie before baking. After the cookie is baked, thread a piece of ribbon through the loop and tie the ribbon in a bow. To make these ornaments at a party, prepare the cardboard patterns in advance.
There you go. I'll add more pictures soon on the process, but couldn't resist sharing the recipe quickly.
5 comments:
This looks SO much easier than the recipe I tried back in the dark ages. We used cookie cutters and put the cookies on aluminum foil. Smashed the candy in a plastic sack with a rolling pin. Naturally, the hard candy shards cut the sack. UGH what a mess- crushed candy everywhere! And, after all that, the cookies stuck to the foil! Needless to say, we didn't do that again! I love the idea of using a rope of dough, food processor and parchment paper! They look great!!s (Sheesh. Why do I suddenly feel so ancient?? LOL)
Marnie,
Ironically the original recipe on epicurious called for foil and I thought it would stick like crazy! They where not very specific about how to crush the candy, but the food processor, 5 candies at a time made a nice powder that was easy to work with and that melted rather smoothly. This is what I would do every time now. We did try to crush the candies first with a rolling pin and it was a horrid mess...Just as you described. Smoooches! Give these a try. They are much easier. Love ya!
Just shared this on my facebook page....TERRIFIC recipe. I love the use of parchment paper instead of foil. I tried the foil thing too, back in the dark ages, lol. What a mess! This weekend is my cooking baking weekend, I am already planning on gingerbread cookies, so I'll make some of these, too!
I have not made these since I was a kid. I'll bet the kids would think they were grand.
What a fantastic idea! I can almost smell the sharp scent of ginger and cinnamon with the sweet candy melting in the middle. Very cool!
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