Harry Potter Cookie Glasses

Harry Potter Cookie Glasses with “real” glass in the frames! Basically Harry Potter’s glasses that you can eat = a super fun addition to any Harry Potter party.

While planning our recent HP party, we were trying to decide on the best cookie option. We also talked about small cookie lightnings or cookie wands. In the end, we had to give these Harry Potter Cookie Glasses a try. It was my first time working with isomalt but it will definitely not be my last. I am now “hooked” and I simply have to continue to try new recipes and methods with isomalt. I will have to try the cookie wands soon too -maybe as a fairy theme? Time will tell. 🙂

We loved how real the glasses looked -so real that some kids tried to put them on during the party. So cute. Haha

What cookie dough is the best for the Harry Potter Cookie Glasses?

I have used my gingerbread dough for these cookies. We coloured the dough black with a little black food colour. I have just used a few drops, which is why the dough is a little brownish after baking. I didn’t mind this, but if you want the glasses to be fully black then you need to add a few more drops of food colour. Then they will remain fully black like these Halloween Cookie Spiders. You can also use a normal butter cookie recipe –like this one. I decided to use the gingerbread recipe because the cookies are slightly harder and less likely to break -and because my kids love gingerbread cookies even when it’s waaay past Christmas. 🙂

You could also use a plain chocolate cookie dough but be sure that the cookie dough isn’t likely to crack or change the shape too much while baking.

My top tips for making Harry Potter Cookie Glasses

• Use two sizes of round cookie cutters. I have used the largest and the smallest circle leaving a 5-8mm thick ring for the frame. If you don’t have round cookie cutters, you can also roll the dough into thin “sausages” and make circles. Hide the joint under the bridge.
• Make both left and right temples for the glasses. Try to keep a count so you know how many you need (and have already made)
• Have lots of patience while assembling them. As you can see in the video, I didn’t at first. And the temples fell off which of course was really annoying. If you keep it still and in place for 1 minute -like you would while assembling a gingerbread house-, then the sugar will stiffen and it will not break again.
• Be aware that plating the glasses is a bit tricky. I had not thought too much about how to plate them for the party and quickly realized that I should have made some sort of glass stand out of lego or cardboard beforehand. These cookie glasses do not stack easily and they take up quite a lot of space on a plate -leaving room for max 5-6 pairs on a dinner plate.
• The isomalt is basically sugar so it is edible. Not the healthiest or tastiest of foods, but definitely the best option for the glass.
• Don’t let the kids handle the isomalt. It is burning hot and can cause serious burns. My kids helped with everything else -shaping the cookies and assembling them. The hot sugar “glue” can also be quite dangerous for kids but as it’s at the other end of the stick in this recipe, my kids managed to use it without any accidents or scares.
• If one of the glasses should break while plating or assembling (they are quite tough but cannot handle being dropped), you can try patching them up with some hot sugar “glue”. Hide the patch up job under a piece of white/beige fondant (to look like sellotape) and it will look like Harry tried to mend his glasses. Like he used to do before he met Hermione and learned how to mend them by magic.

To make it easier, I recommend doing the glasses in stages over 2-4 days:

1. 1. Make the cookie dough (this can easily be done a day or two in advance. Just store it in an airtight container in the fridge)
   2. Roll out the dough and use two round cookie cutters to make the frame. Make thin cookie sausages with a curve at the end for the temples. Cool them down and store them in an airtight tupperware.
   3. Heat up the isomalt and pour it into the cookie frames where the glass would normally be. Let it cool for 15min before packing them away.
   4. On the day of the party, assemble the frames with the temples using hot sugar “glue”.

Learning from my mistakes

New recipes and ideas always means learning something new too. In this case, I have learnt two new things:

1. Since it was my first time working with isomalt, I didn’t puncture the air bubbles which were then visible afterwards. Use a toothpick for the air bubbles to make the “glass” clear.
2. As you can see in the video, I put the temples on the side of the frame which meant a little too much visible melted sugar on the frame. That is not so pretty of course. My daughter was smarter and fixed the temples behind the frame. This solution is so much better. You can see an example of these glasses on the picture in the beginning of the article with the two girls.

Hope you have fun with this recipe and lots of fun at your Harry Potter Party.

Yield: I made 25 pairs of glasses with this gingerbread recipe. I used 100ml of isomalt to make the glass in all the frames. 

NOTE: The time frame mentioned below it for 25 pairs of glasses from start to finish