Stained Glass Cookies with Jolly Ranchers

Make festive Stained Glass Cookies with colorful candy centers! This easy recipe creates beautiful sugar cookies with colorful centers made from Jolly Ranchers, making them perfect for Christmas, holidays, parties, and any occasion. And these pretty cookies always add joy to any occasion!

Originally posted August 2012, updated June 2026

Stained Glass Cookies

These Jolly Rancher Cookies are one of those recipes that never fail to bring smiles to the table. Made with buttery sugar cookies and colorful candy centers, they’re fun to make, beautiful to serve, and perfect for holidays, parties, or baking with kids.

The melted candy creates a gorgeous stained-glass effect that looks impressive yet is surprisingly easy to achieve.

I first made these cookies with my kids during our homeschool days, and they’ve remained one of our favorite things to bake together ever since. 

Why You’ll Love This Jolly Rancher Cookies Recipe

If you’re looking for an easy cookie recipe that’s both delicious and eye-catching, these cookies check all the boxes.

• Made with homemade sugar cookie dough
• Colorful hard candy center creates a beautiful stained glass window effect
• Perfect for Christmas cookies and cookie exchange parties
• Great baking project for kids
• Easy to customize with different shapes and festive shapes
• Stores well in an airtight container

A Fun Homeschool Baking Memory

Years ago, during Vacation Bible School, one of the suggested snacks was Northern Lights Cookies – simple cut-out sugar cookies filled with Jolly Ranchers. My kids absolutely loved them.

Later that same year, while studying Ancient Egypt in our homeschool curriculum, we made edible “clay tablets” from sugar cookie dough.

Since we had plenty of dough left over, we decided to make another batch of these colorful cookies. They had so much fun:

These beautiful stained-glass cookies have been a family tradition ever since.

Tools Needed

• Mixing bowls
• Electric mixer or stand mixer
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Plastic wrap
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters (in different sizes)
• 2 large baking sheets
• Parchment paper (or silicone baking mats)
• Zip-top bags
• Rolling pin or meat mallet (for crushing candy)
• Cooling rack

Ingredients

This glass cookie recipe uses basic ingredients plus some crushed candies for the pretty center.

• Sugar
• Butter (unsalted butter is preferred but salted butter also works)
• Egg
• Vanilla Extract
• Lemon Zest (optional)
• All Purpose Flour
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Jolly Ranchers (or other hard candies)

Find the complete recipe with ingredient measurements in the printable recipe card below.

How to Make Stained Glass Cookies

These cookies do take a few steps, but they’re so worth it! And if you have another sugar cookie recipe that you already love, you can certainly use it!

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. 
2. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Mix until everything is well combined. 
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking powder together. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix just until a dough forms. Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour. 

4. Separate the hard candies by color and place them into small zip-top bags. Using a rolling pin, gently crush the candies into small pieces. You want little chunks, not candy dust. 
5. When you’re ready to bake, line each cookie sheet with parchment paper.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness. Use a large cookie cutter to cut out the cookies and place them on a prepared baking sheet. Then use a smaller cutter to cut out the center of each cookie. 
7. Fill the cut-out center of each cookie with the crushed candy pieces. 

8. Preheat your oven to 350°F. While the oven is heating, place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This helps the cookies hold their shape while baking. 
9. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the cookie edges are lightly golden brown and the candy has completely melted. 
10. Let the beautiful stained glass cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before attempting to remove them. If they’re still warm, the candy center may stick to the parchment paper and pull away from the cookie. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Tips for Success

Use Hard Candy: Jolly Rancher candies are my favorite because they melt smoothly and create bright, vibrant colors, but Life Savers and peppermint candies work great too for making beautiful stained glass cookies.

Don’t Skip the Lining: For best results, bake the cookies on parchment paper, a silicone baking mat, or foil-lined baking sheets. A lined baking sheet keeps the melted candy from sticking.

Keep the Opening Small: A smaller cutout in the center of the cookie helps prevent the melted candy from overflowing while still creating that gorgeous stained glass look.

Choose Simple Shapes: While different cookie shapes can be fun, designs with wider center openings tend to hold the melted candy best and create the prettiest finished cookies.

Storage

Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container or sealed container at room temperature for several days.

For longer storage, place layers between sheets of wax paper and keep them in a resealable plastic bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Heart Cookies

Using heart cookie cutters, stained glass cookies can also be perfect for Valentine’s Day. Using heart cookie cutters (large and small) plus Red Jolly Ranchers – you can make the prettiest Stained Glass Heart cookies:

Shop here to make Heart Cookies

Heart Cookie Cutters

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Jolly Rancher Hard Candy Awesome Reds

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Baking Sheet

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