Instructions

Cookie Directions

1. Add room temperature butter and sugar to medium bowl. Using a hand mixer, cream the soft butter with the sugar until smooth, and not grainy, or about five minutes.
2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
3. Add four, baking soda, and salt, and mix until ingredients are thoroughly combined.
4. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap, and refrigerate for two hours or overnight.
5. Pull the cookie dough out of the fridge. Dough should be stiff. Let it sit on the counter for about half an hour (still covered in plastic film) to soften up a bit.
6. Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 325 degrees.
7. Roll the dough out on the cutting board, using flour to keep it from sticking.
8. Use the large star to cut out the outside of your cookie, use the small star to cut out the center of the cookie, and remove the center star.
9. Move the cut cookies to the parchment-lined cookie sheet, and place the cookies on the baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees for six minutes.
10. While the cookies are baking, unwrap the 30 white (pineapple) Jolly Rancher candies. Place them in a plastic bag, and crush with a rolling pin.
11. As soon as the cookies are out of the oven, and still hot, place the equivalent of one Jolly Rancher candy in the star in the center of the cookie.
12. Put cookies back into the oven for another 3-4 minutes, or until the candy is melted.
13. Let cookies cool on the cookie sheet for half an hour.

While the cookies are cooling, make the icing.

Icing Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, and stir until combined.
2. Using a hand mixer, mix on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about five minutes.
3. If the icing is too thin, add 1/2 cup powder sugar.
4. Split the icing into three bowls.
5. Add a few drops of red dye into the first bowl, and stir.
6. Add a few drops of blue into the second bowl, and stir.
7. Leave the third bowl white.
8. Scoop 1/2 of the icing into each of the three piping bags. One bag will be blue, one will be red, and one will be white.
9. Add two tablespoons of water into each of the bowls to thin the icing. Pour the thinned icing into the squeeze bottles.

How to decorate your cookies

1. Take your cooled stained glass cookie.
2. Using one piping bag, pipe on a line around the cookie part of the bottom cookie.
3. Add a few sprinkles on top of the glass (Jolly Rancher) on top of the bottom cookie.
4. Place another cookie on top of the bottom cookie so that the icing sticks the two sides together.
5. Do this for all remaining cookies, alternating between using red, white, and blue piping bags to use each color evenly.
6. Let cookies sit for half an hour before decorating the top.
7. Take the red piping bag and pipe a line across the top third of one cookie. Do not pipe over the glass center.
8. Using the white icing, pipe a line across the middle third of one cookie. Do not pipe over the glass center.
9. Using the blue icing, pipe a line around the bottom of the cookie of one cookie. Do not pipe over the glass center.
10. Fill in the colors with the matching thinned icing colors in the bowls.
11. Do this for the remaining cookies.
12. Let cookies dry for 2 hours before enjoying!