A how-to guide: Christmas stained-glass cookie ornaments to hang on your tree

'Tis the season for holiday cookies.

Whether you prefer sugar cookies or gingerbread, these stained glass cookies would tempt Santa himself. As with many traditions, food is important to holiday celebrations – especially desserts, such as cookies. In medieval times, many countries held winter solstice festivals, which signaled the arrival of the first frost.

Today, Christmas cookies include such spices as cinnamon, ginger and cloves. The name "cookie" originates from the Dutch word "koekje," meaning little or small cake. The cookie then made its way to the Americas through Dutch and English immigrants in the 1600s.

Stained-glass cookie ornaments are an impressive addition to your holiday tree. Most any type of cookie dough can be used. The hard candy center melts into a sweet and crunchy thin layer, which breaks easily when it's eaten.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to making edible holiday ornaments for the plate or the tree:

What supplies you'll need

Stained-glass cookies can be made with almost any cookie cutter. If you don't have a smaller cookie cutter, shapes can be cut with a small knife. 

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Cutting out the holiday cookie shapes

The cookie dough should be chilled before rolling out shapes. This will make it easier to transfer the cookies to the baking sheet. Roll out the dough and transfer the shapes to a cookie sheet using a fork.

Bake cookies as directed in the cookie dough recipe. Rotating the baking sheets once while baking, until the cookies are golden brown and the candy centers have melted.

Decorating the holiday cookie ornaments

Once the cookies have been baked and have fully cooled, it's time to get creative. Make full patterns or snowflakes on the cookies. Pipe desired designs onto cookies and immediately cover them with candy sprinkles. Gently shake and let dry.

You can also make your own holiday ornament shapes. Simply draw out a shape on parchment paper. Cut out and place on rolled cookie dough, then cut out with a knife.

The hard part will be not eating all the stained-glass cookie ornaments yourself. Enjoy!

SOURCE Taste of Home; Food Network and Paste BN research