Elevate your holiday joy with Snow Globe Cookies. Crispy shortbread rings, snowy swirls with a minty burst- magical, festive in every bite.
- 1½ cups (12 oz/341 g) butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (8 oz/225 g) granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3½ cups (17½ oz/497 g) all-purpose flour
- About 10 oz/284 g clear hard candy (like glacier mints)
- 2½ cups (10 oz/ 284 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1½ tablespoons corn syrup
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- Sprinkles for filling the globes
- Butcher twine, thin cord or ribbon, for hanging the cookies.
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In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or with a medium bowl and handheld electric mixer), cream the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt together for 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
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Turn the mixer to low and gradually add in the flour until well combined. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or until firm.
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Next, place the unwrapped hard candy in a food processor and pulse until the candy is powdered. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
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When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C) fan assist and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
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On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ⅛-inch (3mm) thick and cut 16 circles using a 3½ -inch (9cm) cutter. You can gather and re-roll scraps. Arrange 8 cookies on each cookie sheet, slightly staggered.
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Using a 2½-inch (6 cm) round cutter, cut out the center of each cookie. (Save these scraps for rolling more cookies.) Then, use the flat end of a wooden skewer to poke a hole in each of the cookie rings.
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Bake the cookies for 5 minutes, until they are barely set. Then, while keeping the cookies in the oven, carefully scoop 1 tablespoon of crushed candy in the cut-out centers of each cookie.
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Continue to bake for about 5 more minutes, until the cookie is lightly golden and the candy has melted, spread through the center and is bubbling. Watch carefully so that that candy doesn’t begin to brown.
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Before removing the cookies from the oven, check that the candy has spread to the inside edges of the cookie. If there are any gaps, you can use a wooden skewer to push the candy to the edges. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets before moving them.
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Cut 8 more cookie rings of the same size with the centers removed just like above. Poke a hole in the ring with the wooden skewer and bake these on a parchment lined cookie sheet until they are done. (These center rings will not have any melted candy in the middle.) You will now have enough to make 8 snow globe cookies.
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Roll and cut any remaining dough and gather scraps and bake as directed in the steps above. For each snow globe you will need two rings filled with melted candy (sugar glass) and one ring without candy. You should be able to get 12 more cookie rings. Fill only 8 of these cookies with candy and bake the remaining 4 rings without candy.
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In a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, corn syrup and 2 tablespoons of milk together until smooth. Check the consistency – it should be pourable but stay where it is placed without spreading. If need be, add a touch more milk, a few drops at a time, until the correct consistency is reached. If it is too runny, add a touch more powdered sugar. Place the icing in a piping bag fitted with a very small round tip.
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First, match up your cookies. For each globe, you will need two cookies with sugar glass and one ring for the center without. Try to align the cookies by the skewer hole and see which rings most closely fit together. Use a toothpick to gently tap out any skewer holes that may have closed a bit during baking.
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For each cookie, turn one of the sugar glass cookies upside down and pipe a few lines of icing around the cookie. Using a toothpick to help you align the holes, sandwich the cookie ring without the sugar glass onto the piped cookie.
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Add about 2-3 teaspoons of sprinkles to the center, then pipe a few lines of icing into the center ring and sandwich the second sugar glass cookie on top, enclosing the sprinkles. Make sure to use the toothpick to align all three holes.
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Finally, pipe any decorations you choose on the cookie. If you wish to pipe the other side, wait for 2 hours until the cookie is completely dry and set before flipping the cookie over to decorate the other side.
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Once completely dry and set, push a thin ribbon or cord through the holes in the cookies and tie a loop so you can hang your ornament on your tree. These cookies will keep for 6-8 weeks.