A Tasteful Way To Show Affection

(NAPSI)-You can please that special someone with a true gift from the heart--homemade Stained Glass Hearts. To get this great stained glass look, the Sugar Association used simple sugar cookie dough shaped into a heart with another heart cut out of the middle and filled with crushed red candy. Once baked, the cookies will reflect the love you have for that special someone.

Stained Glass Hearts

½ cup butter or margarine, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2⅓ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

⅓ cup red hard candies, crushed

Frosting (optional)

Dough needs to chill from 3 hours to overnight.

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Sift flour and baking powder together. Gradually stir in flour mixture until dough is very stiff. Cover and chill.

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Roll out dough to ⅛-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. To prevent cookies from becoming tough and brittle, try not to incorporate a lot of flour. Cut out cookies using a heart-shaped cookie cutter or by using a sharp knife and cutting around a heart pattern. Transfer cookies to a foil-lined baking sheet. Using a small heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out and remove heart design from the center of each cookie. Fill the cut-out section with crushed candy.

Bake 7-9 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and the candy has melted. Do not overcook. When done, slide foil off baking sheet. Carefully loosen cookies from foil when cooled. If desired, pipe decorative borders with frosting around edges.

Makes about 2½ dozen medium cookies.

Nutrient Information per Serving/Percentage of Calories

87 calories per cookie
13 grams carbohydrate/57%
1 gram protein/7%
3 grams fat/36%
51 milligrams sodium
14 milligrams cholesterol
2 grams dietary fiber

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