A citrusy cookie with candy for a heart

During my zig-zag travels around Montana, I often take time to check out the historic churches dotting the state’s landscapes. These old buildings stand as testaments to the faithful followers of many denominations. And they often showcase stained-glass windows. 

You can find basic but beautiful stained glass at Grace Lutheran Church in Barber (you know where Barber is, right?), or at the United Methodist Church near my home in Clancy. The Serbian Orthodox Church in Butte features gorgeous 30-foot windows glowing with Christian imagery. The stained glass of the St. Ignatius Mission illuminates the Catholic church’s distinctive collection of 58 interior paintings. My favorite examples are the elaborate stained-glass tributes to the Old and New Testaments that distinguish the Cathedral of St. Helena in the state capital. 

My love of stained glass has driven me to explore more than Montana’s diverse houses of worship. I’ve also developed a recipe for cookies that look a little like church windows, with translucently colorful hard candy standing in for stained glass. You can make these cookies any time of year, but my family enjoys them especially around the holidays. 

Their citrusy flavor is a good bet for holiday baking as well, since citrus usually comes into season during the winter months. I like to infuse the dough with either orange or lemon zest, giving these cookies a bright flavor that’s well-matched to their illumined inspirations. 

The hard candy that yields a look closest to stained glass is Jolly Rancher. In the second half of the baking process they melt into glassy tributes to their churchy counterparts. But if hard candy is too rough on the teeth, you can substitute gummy candies for a softer texture. Either way, make sure the cookies get a full hour of cooling time so the candy sets completely. 

Few people will ever master the craftsmanship that created Montana’s historic stained-glass windows, but these cookies require no apprenticeship at all. 

RECIPE FOR STAINED GLASS COOKIES

2 3/4 cups flour
1 cup salted butter (2 sticks)
3/4 cup sugar
1 oz. cream cheese
1 whole egg and one egg yolk
1 tbsp lemon or orange zest
1 tsp vanilla 
20 Jolly Ranchers of various colors, or gummy candies for softer centers

Let the butter and cream cheese soften. Using a stand or hand mixer, combine the butter, cream cheese and sugar for about two minutes. Add the vanilla, zest, egg and egg yolk and mix for another minute. Add one cup of the flour and mix for 15 seconds. Add a second cup of flour and mix for 15 seconds. Add the final 3/4 cup of flour and mix until it all comes together. Be careful not to overmix. Place the dough on plastic wrap, form it into a 2-inch-high disc, and cover it completely in plastic wrap. Let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour. 

Preheat your oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Crush the Jolly Ranchers in plastic bags, keeping each color separate. (If you’re using gummy candies, roughly chop them into smaller pieces with a knife ). Remove the dough from the fridge and dust your work surface with flour. Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick. Create shapes using a cookie cutter and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a much smaller cookie cutter, remove the center of the larger cookie. (You can reroll leftover dough, but it works best if you form it back into a disc and send it back into the fridge for 20-30 minutes covered in plastic.) 

Bake the cookies for about 7 minutes. Then remove them from the oven and carefully place broken pieces of the Jolly Rancher candy or gummy candies in the center spaces. Bake for another 5 minutes, or until the candy has melted. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least an hour while the candy sets.