spice gumdrop slice cookies

 I had this idea for a recipe that would be visually stunning:
Beautiful jelly pieces studded in a crisp spiced dough.
(If anyone remembers the jellybean blunder... same idea, different candy.)

They didn't turn out quite how I'd imagined, but with a few alterations this recipe has potential:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

1 1/4 cup spice drops 

Spice drops, in case you didn't know, are basically gumdrops that taste like "spice" instead of fruit.
The red ones taste like cinnamon, the green ones taste like spearmint.

Start by beating the butter, sugar, extract, and spices. Add in the eggs, then flour, and spice drops.

Take your dough and shape into a log on a sheet of parchment paper. Wrap and refrigerate
for at least 2 hours, up to 3 days. Then slice carefully with a sharp knife into 1/4" thick slices.

When you slice them, you'll see this gorgeous stained-glass-window effect.

Place the slices on a parchement paper covered baking sheet.

Bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes.

I used both the red and green in my cookies, but next time I may just use the red cinnamon drops.
The flavor combo of spice and mint just didn't work for me.

The spice dough base, however, was delicious!
I think with only red/cinnamon drops this could be a winner...