On the left, the first try. On the right, the best of the rest. In the middle, an attempt to make the cookie Dorie describes.
Usually I post my bake-a-long recipes on Monday night or Tuesday evening at the latest, but this week’s recipe got away from me, so I’m posting it on a Wednesday. The recipe is Stained Glass Cookies from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking Chez Moi — doesn’t it sound nice?
Well. They taste nice too, assuming you bake the cookies long enough for the dough to properly cook but not long enough for the crushed candy ‘glass’ to burn. It’s a fine line, and one I may have criss-crossed over a few times while making this recipe. Dorie says that in France, sometimes herbs and seeds are used in addition to the crushed candy. (Um, is it just me, or does that sound blech?!?)
It didn’t sound like a complicated recipe when reading it. One uses a basic dough, then cuts out an shape and an inner shape, and fills the inner shape with crushed hard candy.
Candy crush, oh yeahhhhh!
Dorie writes that you should stick the dough in the freezer for an hour before cutting out the shapes. Eh. Usually when Dorie says to chill a dough in the fridge, I stick it in the freezer to cut down on chilling time. So you know what my reaction to chilling dough for an hour in the freezer will be, don’t you?
That’s right…
So I just stuck the dough in the freezer until firm. Hey, almost perfect is good enough, amirite?
I cut out the (semi-)frozen dough using different cookie cutters, from mittens to small crinkle-edged circles to large crinkle-edged circles. I tried different thicknesses of dough. I tried heaping the crushed candy. I tried spreading the crushed candy. I tried sprinkling sugar over the cookies before they went in the oven, a la Dorie. I tried sprinkling sugar AFTER the cookies were out of the oven, a la Margaret-forgot-and-is-trying-to-fix-the-cookies. (Which works, fyi — so new kitchen hack learned, whoo!)
So pretty. Also pretty much a pain to make.
Ugh. They’re pretty, I suppose, and kind of tasty, but the headache of trying to figure out the right combination of parts was a pain in the patootie. I actually have a literal pain in my neck from making these finicky cookies.
Will I make them again? To me, the labour of making the cookies isn’t worth the output, so… (wait for it) …
I AIN’T GOT TIME FOR IT!
Cookie making makes me grumpy on a good day, anything fussy like this…well, enough said
Good to know about the sugar tip!
Glad to know it’s not just me!
I so enjoyed your post! Totally made me laugh. Best line, “So pretty. Also pretty much a pain to make” These were a pain and not worth all the work in my opinion. AND…I agree with you…it doesn’t sound good to add herbs and seeds!
Yay, I made someone laugh! That makes my day! And it’s nice to know it’s not just my taste buds that pulled a valley-girl ‘ew’ at the idea of mixing coriander, flax seeds, and lifesavers.
Your post is hilarious, and believe me I know exactly how
you felt doing these cookies. They were tasty, but not worth the effort. I’ll stick with my ricotta cookies.
Yay! Glad I wasn’t the only one! And ricotta cookies sound delicious!
I don’t think anyone of us escaped the pain in making these cookies. I like how you made fun of it all. Should have read your post first before making the cookies.
Thanks, Shirley! Glad to know I wasn’t the only one frustrated with the process. And hey, if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can?
They are pretty and fun to make with kids (and no, you don’t need to chill the dough for that long – in fact it made it harder to cut (it crumbled) so I wouldn’t leave it that long next time. Merry Christmas!
I had the same experience! When the dough was colder, it was indeed harder to cut! And Merry Christmas to you too!
I pretty much agree with you on this one. I will probably not make these again. And leftover candy canes, make ice cream. I make it every year and its delicious.
Ooh, candy cane ice cream — great idea!