Take inspiration from Sherlock Holmes, and host a detective tea for your friends. These charming magnifying-glass Clue Cookies are a delightful way to end the tea, with their melted, crushed-candy centers mimicking lenses. Both delicious and playful, these cookies make for a fun twist to a themed afternoon tea.
Clue Cookies
2015-02-18 21:10:19
Yield: approximately 1 dozen cookies • Preparation: 10 minutes • Freeze: 15 minutes • Refrigerate: 10 minutes • Bake: 10 minutes • Cool: 25 minutes
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2½ tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup crushed clear hard candies*
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, honey, water, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating to combine. Tightly wrap dough in plastic wrap. Freeze for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to ¼-inch thickness. Using a magnifying glass–shaped cookie cutter†, cut as many cookies as possible. Using a 1½-inch round cutter, cut centers from rounded section of magnifying glasses. Discard centers. Place magnifying-glass shapes on prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Bake for 6 minutes. Cool for 3 minutes.
- Evenly divide crushed candies among cut-out centers of cookies. Bake until candies start to bubble, 3 to 4 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 20 minutes. When cookie centers are hardened, peel away foil.
Notes
- Note: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- *For testing purposes, we used pineapple-flavored Life Savers candies.
- †Magnifying-glass cookie cutters can be found at coppergifts.com.
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