Stained-Glass Teardrops - flour

Method

• Whisk together flour and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer (preferably fitted with paddle attachment) or 6 minutes with a handheld, then beat in egg and vanilla.
• Add flour mixture and mix at low speed until just combined.
• Form dough into 3 (5-inch) disks and chill, each disk wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 2 hours.
• While dough chills, unwrap candies and separate by color in small heavy-duty sealable plastic bags.
• Seal bags, forcing out air, then coarsely crush candies by wrapping each bag in a kitchen towel and pounding bags with a rolling pin.
• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Roll out 1 piece of dough into a 9-inch round (1/8 inch thick) on a well-floured surface with floured rolling pin (keep remaining dough chilled).
• Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with large cutter and transfer to a Silpat-lined baking sheet, arranging about 1 inch apart.
• Cut out centers from cookies with small cutter and add to scraps.
• Spoon about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed candy (depending on size of cutout) in center of each cookie.
• (If you want to use these cookies as tree ornaments, make a hole with a drinking straw in each for hanging.)
• Bake in middle of oven until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes, then cool cookies completely on baking sheet on a rack, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer with a metal spatula to a plate or an airtight container.
• Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll once) in same manner on cooled baking sheet.