Mason jar cookies with clear see-through candy glass...no, this isn’t some kind of sorcery or magic, it's isomalt and we’re going to show you how to use it to create these beautiful cookies!
But first, a word of caution: We’re going to be working with isomalt, a special type of sugar used by pastry artists. It’s a sugar substitute derived from beet sugar and it gets REALLY HOT, just like any hard candy sugar recipe would. Be very careful, this project is not recommended for children.
How to make the mason jar cookies
You'll want to get out your best cut-out sugar cookie recipe for this project, don't have one? See HERE for our best cut-out sugar cookie recipe, your cookies will hold their shape through baking and won't spread out!
After you make your cookie dough you'll need to roll out the dough and cut out the mason jar shaped cookies.
Roll out cookie dough on a parchment sheet cut to the size of your cookie pan. You won’t move your cookies once they're cut, so plan strategically this way you can fit the most on a sheet. Leave enough room so they won't spread into each other. Remove the excess dough from around each of your cut out cookies.
If you're using our sugar cookie recipe you'll have minimal spreading.
Next, cut a rectangle from the middle of each Mason jar cookie using a rectangle cookie cutter and remove the cut-out dough. You can add this cookie dough back into the pile to use for the next round.
Leave the cut-out cookies right on the sheet of parchment paper and transfer them to a cookie sheet. This is the trick to not messing up the shape of a cut-out cookie, the less you lift and move them, the better!
Once the cookies are done baking and have completely cooled you can move on to making the candy glass.
How to make candy glass
Line a cookie pan with aluminum foil. Make sure it's as smooth as possible (no wrinkles!) and line up all your cooled Mason jar cookies. It's important to use aluminum foil rather than parchment or wax paper. Aluminum foil will give the candy glass a smooth finish, parchment or wax paper can leave the candy glass looking dull.
Microwave the isomalt for two minutes, stir gently and then microwave again for one minute. While stirring use the hot isomalt to wash any excess off the sides of your bowl or measuring cup.
Be careful not to burn the isomalt (it will turn yellow).
Let the isomalt rest for a few seconds and do a test pour onto the side of the aluminum foil
Pouring from high up will allow any air bubbles to pop as they come down. If your test pour has a lot of air bubbles wait for another second or two before pouring into your cookie.
Note: the hotter your isomalt, the thinner it will pour and spread out. You'll be able to pour 3-6 cookies before you have to heat it up again. Just microwave for 30 seconds at a time until it becomes fluid again.
Slowly pour the isomalt into the center of the rectangle opening, and let the hot sugar flow out to the edges. Wiggle your cookie a little if it doesn't quite go to the edge.
Let the cookies and isomalt cool completely before peeling away from the aluminum foil.
Isomalt holds heat, so let them cool down completely before decorating with royal icing.
Decorate with royal icing and sprinkles!
We used royal icing tinted with a very tiny drop of AmeriColor Teal Gel Paste Food Color.
For the lid, we added a tiny drop of AmeriColor Super Black Gel Paste Food Color to royal icing, making it gray.
Once your royal icing is fully hardened on your cookies (after a few hours) you can flip them over and adhere sprinkles and icing pieces using corn syrup as glue.
