Add the sugar, salt, vanilla, egg, and room temperature butter to a mixing bowl.
Combine the ingredients in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer.
Add the all purpose flour and mix until the dough starts to clump together.
Transfer the dough to your working surface and knead briefly.
Cover your dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Unwrap two jolly ranchers and place them in a plastic baggie.
Use a hammer or meat mallet to crush the jolly ranchers into very small pieces. Powder is okay as well, but try and get rid of any large chunks.Repeat with other jolly rancher colours. Two jolly ranchers will fill 3 - 4 cookies, depending on your cut out size.
Add flour to your working surface. Place the dough on top and add a bit more flour on top of the dough.
Roll out the dough until it's just over 1/4 inch thick.
Use a cookie cutter to cut out star shapes, or whatever shape you'd like!
Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking tray.You can also use a silicone mat, but you need to cover your baking sheet with something to stop the candy from sticking.
Cut out the centers of the cookies with a smaller cookie cutter of a similar shape.
Fill the center of the cookies with the crushed candies. Make sure they don't overflow; just add enough to cover the hole.Try and remove any pieces that fall on the top of the cookies prior to baking.
Preheat your oven to 350F and bake the cookies for 12 minutes.Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 20 - 30 minutes, until the candy center has hardened.
Your stained glass cookies are complete!
Video
Notes
Make sure you don't place these cookies on a paper towel or napkin, because the candy center will stick to it!