• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Joy the Baker
Joy the Baker
  • New Magazine!
  • Bread
  • Cookies
  • Cakes
  • Pies
  • Recipes
    • All Recipes
    • Biscuits
    • Muffins
    • Cupcakes
    • Drinks
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Fruit
    • Nuts
    • Buttermilk
    • Chocolate
    • Vanilla
    • Holiday
    • Healthy
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegan
  • Blog
    • Baking 101
    • Tips
    • Beyond the Kitchen
    • Let It Be Sunday!
    • New Orleans

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

November 28, 2016 by Joy the Baker 14 Comments

Jump to Recipe

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

This past weekend I decorated my first tree, in my first house, just a few days after hosting my first Thanksgiving around my first official dining room table.  Who knew that 35 had so many firsts?  

To be fair, I decorated the tree at the insistence of my friend Suzonne who has much more reverence for tradition that I usually do, and thank goodness for it!  Sometimes it takes a friend’s insistence to make things happen… (and she came over with her extra Christmas tree so that didn’t hurt one bit!).  

Where I do have holiday tradition reverence is in the kitchen, where every winter I find myself making family recipes that make Christmas feel like Christmas no matter where I am.  Sure, there’s my dad’s Sweet Potato Pie that I won’t stop yammering on about, or my mom’s Peanut Butter Balls that I crave each December, but this year I’m taking it back with a spiced sugar cookie with a candy center that I used to make when I was a kiddo.  In my mind I might have made these cookies while trying to earn some sort of Girl Scout badge… that’s how far back these classic cookies date for me.  I surely made them with my mom and sister, and this holiday season I’m all about the nostalgia, with a spiced flare. 

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

Here’s how these cookies start:

This post is in partnership with Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening, which made these cookies tender on the inside and golden crisp along the edges.  This is my family’s old-school cookie baking and I’m embracing the tradition.  

Also gather brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, corn syrup for moisture and pliability, plenty of cardamom spice, flour and leavening.  

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

Brown sugar and granulated sugar are creamed to combined with Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening and (baker’s tip!) cardamom spice.  

Adding the spice to the shortening will help disperse the flavor throughout the cookie creating a fragrant and boldly spiced cookie.  Much more flavorful than adding the spice along with the dry ingredients.  I love the taste of cardamom, but you could use any sort of spice that feels like a holiday tradition to you:  cinnamon, nutmeg, a pinch of cloves, allspice… do whatcha feel! 

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

Once the sugar and spice are creamed with the shortening, add the eggs and beat until glossy and well combined.  

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

The flour, salt, and leavening are added all at once.  

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

And mixed until soft and well-combined.  

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

The dough is soft and tender.  It’s a little sticky to start which means it just needs some quality time in the refrigerator to chill and come together.

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

The dough is divided in half and each piece is wrapped in wax paper. 

From here, a few things could happen:

•  The dough can be placed in the refrigerator to chill for about 2 hours before rolling out and baking.

•  The dough can be placed in the freezer for up to a month if you want to make holiday cookies closer to the Christmas holiday like no sweat… like you planned it all along because you did. 

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

I roll these cookies our on a well-floured sheet of parchment paper.  

We’re hoping for less mess and easy to work with cookie shapes.   

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

The top of the chilled dough is floured and another piece of parchment is placed over it before rolling out to a 1/4-inch thickness. 

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

Keeping the dough a good thickness will make the shapes easier to cut and remove from the parchment.  

Thick, chilled cookie dough + well-floured cookie cutters + a parchment lined baking sheet ready to go.    

0s9a8325

0s9a8331

I used smaller cookie cutters to create spaces in each cookie for the stained glass candy center. 

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

The cookies are baked halfway to done, removed from the oven and sprinkled with crushed hard candy.  

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

See?  

Back to the oven where the cookies will crisp to juuust golden and the candy will melt to glass.  

It’s like magic and really very satisfying.  

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

Boxed and shared.  That’s how these cookies are best enjoyed… with just a few set aside for your own morning coffee.

Happy Holidays!

Print

clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Cardamom-Spiced Stained Glass Cookies

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Joy the Baker
  • Prep Time: 260
  • Cook Time: 12
  • Total Time: 4 hours 32 minutes
Pin Recipe
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
  • 1 cup Crisco® Butter-Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening
  • 1 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • finely crushed hard fruit-flavored candies

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper. Set aside.
  2. Beat shortening, brown sugar, granulated sugar, corn syrup, cardamom and nutmeg in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a medium bowl using electric hand beaters until well combined and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
  3. Beat in eggs on low speed, one at a time for 1 minute each, scraping the bottom of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract.
  4. Slowly mix in dry ingredients in two batches. Remove the bowl from the mixer and finish incorporating by hand using a spatula to ensure that all of the flour is incorporated.
  5. Divide dough into two disks, wrap each disk in plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 4 hour or overnight is best.
  6. One at a time, roll each disk to a ¼-inch thickness between two sheets of well floured parchment paper. The bottom parchment will be floured, the cookie dough placed on top, lightly flour the top of the cookie dough and press another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough to roll.
  7. Use a 2 ½-inch holiday cookie cutter to cut shapes from the dough and place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut a decorative hole in the center of each cookie and remove from the baking sheet. It’s easiest to cut out all of the cookies and stack them on a small baking sheet or plate layered with parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking.
  8. Place oven racks in the center and upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  9. Bake for 8 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. Remove from the oven momentarily and sprinkle the hollow inside of each baking cookie with a heaping ½ teaspoon crushed candy. Return to the oven and bake for 4 minutes more until the cookies are lightly brown and the candy is melted.
  10. Allow to cool on the baking sheet completely before using a thin spatula to carefully remove to a cooling rack. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature before serving or gifting.

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!


This post is in partnership with Crisco with photographs by Jon Melendez.

Previous PostNext Post

Filed Under: Cookies, Holiday, Recipes

Previous Post: «
Next Post: The Holiday Give and Take »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Abigail Wenderson

    November 4, 2020 at 6:46 am

    Wow, such an amazing recipe. Looking forward to making these cookies on coming Christmas.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Carol Cook

    January 17, 2017 at 4:37 pm

    I HAVEN’T MADE THESE AS YET, BUT I’M INTERESTED TO KNOW, RATHER OR NOT IF BUTTER COULD BE USED INSTEAD OF CRISCO ?

    Reply
    • joythebaker

      January 17, 2017 at 7:29 pm

      Yes absolutely!

      Reply
  3. Sara

    December 2, 2016 at 4:38 pm

    So…this may be a stupid question, but what kind of hard/rock candy do I use? Crushed up jolly ranchers?

    Reply
    • Ann

      December 5, 2016 at 8:59 pm

      My housemate and I just finished making these. We used Jolly Ranchers and they turned out great!

      Reply
      • Sara

        December 5, 2016 at 9:28 pm

        Thank you! I went ahead and tried Jolly Ranchers as well and it worked out awesome!

        Reply
  4. Annie

    November 30, 2016 at 10:01 am

    Love your sweater!!

    Reply
  5. Cana

    November 29, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    So pretty! Can they be made ahead and frozen? How long do they keep?

    Reply
  6. kashish

    November 29, 2016 at 5:44 am

    I love eating Cardamom based cookies. It flavor is superb.

    Kashish Food imports Indian Cardamoms from India and make it available in Auckland New Zealand

    https://www.kashishfood.co.nz/spices.html

    Reply
  7. Suzonne

    November 28, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    I’m just getting started. Next year I’ll have you chopping down your own tree! :)

    Reply
  8. Considering The Radish

    November 28, 2016 at 1:47 pm

    These are so festive. They make me want to host a Christmas cookie party with lots of hot toddies and flour everywhere.

    Reply
  9. Abby

    November 28, 2016 at 8:16 am

    Can I use just plain butter instead of the Crisco?

    Reply
  10. francetaste

    November 28, 2016 at 7:15 am

    –Crushing the candy is the worst part.
    –I roll out the dough right away, between parchment sheets and put it in the fridge to rest (or wrap it, still in the parchment, with plastic film and freeze). Much easier!

    Reply
  11. Tori//Gringalicious.com

    November 28, 2016 at 5:07 am

    These are simply gorgeous and so so SO much fun!!! I want to make them this holiday season!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RELATED POSTS IN Cookies

Two huge small-batch chocolate chip cookies.
A Recipe For Just Two Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

I accidentally went down a rabbit hole a few weeks back.  One afternoon, in a sweet tooth induced mania, I made a small batch of truly giant chocolate chip cookies. The cookie dough came together in a small saucepan, the chocolate almost too melty, and the cookies about the size of my literal face. They…

Read More

sliced chocolate and peanut butter brownies
How To Make Box Brownies Better

I hope we’ve built enough trust between us for you to believe what I’m about to tell you. It’s a secret that professional bakers have been keeping from you for too long.  The truth is BOX BROWNIES ARE BETTER THAN BROWNIES MADE FROM SCRATCH.  I know… criminal, really but facts are facts.  I think it’s…

Read More

Strawberry white chocolate chai sugar cookies on a cooling rack.
Taylor Swift’s Strawberry White Chocolate Chai Sugar Cookies

We’ve made MANY A COOKIE here on Joy the Baker over the years and the problem is, each cookie I make is my new pride and joy. But you’re the real decider around here.  Well… you and the search engine god Google.  While my latest Moon Pie Bars (and all their gooey marshmallow) might be…

Read More

Primary Sidebar

Fresh baked emails, delivered to your inbox

Jump to Recipe

Receive recipes from Joy the Baker and updates on events at The Bakehouse.

HI! I’M JOY!

Jump to Recipe

Welcome! This has been my little corner of the internet since 2008!

I’m a baker, photographer, cookbook author and teacher.  I live laugh love in New Orleans. 

MORE ABOUT JOY AND THE TEAM

BOOKS + Magazines

Jump to Recipe

JOY THE BAKER 2022 SUMMER MAGAZINE

JOY THE BAKER 2021 HOLIDAY MAGAZINE

JOY THE BAKER 2020 HOLIDAY MAGAZINE

HOMEMADE DECADENCE

OVER EASY: SWEET AND SAVORY RECIPES FOR LEISURELY DAYS COOKBOOK

JOY THE BAKER COOKBOOK

Jump to Recipe

Joy the baker with dyed bandana around neck

HOW TO MAKE DYED BANDANAS

as seen in JtB Magazine!

Jump to Recipe
joy the baker on facebook joy the baker on twitter pinterest-social instagram-socialbloglovin-social

JOY @ WILLIAMS SONOMA

Jump to Recipe

SHOP THE CAKE LINE OF CAKE MIXES!

DRAKE ON CAKE

Jump to Recipe

Passionate from miles away since 2015.

Check it out on Instagram

Drake on cake instagram.

 

FAVORITE FRUIT RECIPES

strawberry sheet cake on a plate with strawberries on top.

My Favorite Super Easy Strawberry Sheet Cake

Berry crostata topped with whipped cream with coffee.

A Single Serve Berry Crostata Recipe

fresh baked blueberry cobbler on a plate with vanilla ice cream on top.

The Secrets To My Favorite Blueberry Cobbler

POPULAR CAKES

strawberry sheet cake on a plate with strawberries on top.

My Favorite Super Easy Strawberry Sheet Cake

Slice of coconut cake on small white plate with coffee.

My favorite Coconut Cake is actually made with cake mix

A slice of lemon blueberry gooey butter cake held on a cake slicer.

Lemon Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake

Footer

Instagram

joythebaker

📚Baker and author of books and magazines
🎂Creator @drakeoncake
💁🏻‍♀️Classes with me @thebakehousenola
🍰 Products with @williamssonoma

joythebaker
My EASIEST Strawberry Sheet Cake is also my absolu My EASIEST Strawberry Sheet Cake is also my absolute favorite. Get into a box of white cake mix and fresh 🍓🍓 purée! Topped with a thick layer of strawberry cream cheese frosting - this cake is a little pink dream! ⁣
⁣
The Easiest Strawberry Sheet Cake recipe linked in the bio for you! 💋
Our resident reader, @tobyfels shares my favorite Our resident reader, @tobyfels shares my favorite list of the summer on Joy the Baker this year: The Best Books for Summer 2022!  As a person who reads Beach Reads all year long, this is IT! With titles by @ashleymcoleman_ @anarasong @annleary @bonnie_garmus_author @heyashposton @annabelmonaghan @greerhendricks @sarahpekkanen @shelbyvanpeltwrites @marilynsimonrothstein @@misterosman and @kirstin.chen. The guide to your bookworm summer linked in the bio!
Over here testing the limits of “you are what yo Over here testing the limits of “you are what you eat” and will soon be taking my final form as a summer tomato. ⁣🫠🍅
⁣
This Mediterranean Feta and Fresh Tomato Tart is an absolute show stopper with a buttery crisp, press-in crust, whipped feta, and layers of fresh tomato, cucumber, onions, and olives. I’ll leave the recipe linked in the bio - it’s really very special. Join me. We are 🍅🍅.
Here are my two best kept secrets for getting thro Here are my two best kept secrets for getting through this summer.  I’ve never been much for secrets so I’m letting you right in! ⁣
1.	I’m committed to folding crumbled chewy brownies into the easiest homemade no-churn ice cream.⁣
2.	I’m shopping for all of my baking and summer entertaining essentials, wine and cheese at the new @aldiusa stores opening across the Gulf Coast! Wait… you’re as obsessed with ALDI as I am, right? The shopping is always easy and affordable and I always come home with a fun treat among my essentials. Hit up my stories to see my grocery haul (and the chips I ate in the car on the way home) and head to your nearest ALDI for your summer essentials!  #ad⁣
⁣
I’ll leave the recipe and your #ALDILove grocery list linked in the bio!
Let’s just make one! ⁣ ⁣ One Single Berry Cr Let’s just make one! ⁣
⁣
One Single Berry Crostata just you for. Double the recipe (🔗 in the bio) only if you want to share. ⁣
⁣
#joythebaker #berry #crostata #smallbatch #dessert #foodblogfeed
The freezer is packed with ice cream treats from h The freezer is packed with ice cream treats from here on out, and that’s a promise. ⁣
⁣
Find this Milk and Cereal Ice Cream Bar and loads of other semi-homemade ice cream treats linked in the bio! 💓🍦🫠
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · Joy the Baker
All rights reserved. Violators will be whupped and sent to bed with no dessert · Privacy Policy

Scroll Up