** I have copy and paste the whole recipe for my easy reference. Please visit the link provided for detailed step-by-step
Ingredients 250gm All purpose flour 100gm Granulated sugar 100gm Unsalted butter, slightly cold 1 Egg 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract 2 Tbsp Milk , or as required 2 pinches Salt 1/2 tsp Baking powder Hard candies - As required (Different flavors and colors preferably)
- Take a mixing bowl add flour, salt, baking powder and sugar, whisk well using a hand whisk.
- Add butter and mix well to this flour mix and mix well using your fingers.
- Lightly beat egg using a spoon and add it to the mixture, mix well. If your dough is crumbly add milk and knead well to make a soft dough.
- Now wrap the dough in a plastic wrap or just place in a bowl and cover with a lid, then let it rest in a refrigerator for half an hour or until the dough chills and is not soft.
- Then line a baking tray with parchment or butter paper and set aside.
- Now place the chilled dough on a rolling board (pastry board / chapati board) and roll it flat until it is thin.
- After rolling, cut into shapes using a cookie cutter.
- Then cut out some shapes, in the center using a smaller cookie cutter/mini moulds/any bottle caps. You can be creative here with the design and use your own ideas. (You can prick some holes using a skewer or toothpick or a straw on the cookies to hang it and use as decorators)
- Then transfer the cut out cookies carefully onto the lined baking trays.
- After transferring the cookies onto the lined baking tray, place the tray in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 175°C (350 F) for 10 minutes.
- After chilling, remove the tray from refrigerator and slide the tray into the center rack of the preheated oven.
- Bake the cookies for 8 minutes at 175°C (350 F). (If your cookies are too thin then bake for 5-6 minutes)
- Meanwhile, unwrap the candies, separate them color-wise into individual plastic bags or ziplock bags and crush the candies using the rolling pin or meat tenderizer, set them aside.
- Now after 8 minutes, remove the cookie tray from the oven.
- Spoon small amount of crushed candies onto the center of the cookies inside the cutout holes. Do not load too much.
- Now slide the tray again into the oven and bake for another 5 minutes or just until the cookies start to brown on sides and the candies gets melted well. It will be bubbling at this stage. (If you take long to fill the cookies with candies then preheat the oven for 5 minutes before baking again)
- Now remove the tray from the oven and set aside until the cookies cool down completely. When done gently remove the cookies from the parchment paper or butter paper.
- Then set the cookies aside for it to cool completely. Do not attempt to remove the cookies before they completely cool down. (Do the same with the rest of the dough and bake the cookies similarly)
- Store in airtight containers, use as decorators or gift wrap them.
