I thought I had heard (and tried) every type of Christmas candy there is. As it turns out, I was missing one. Last December, my radio cohost Angel and I were discussing our favorite types of holiday candy. At some point during that conversation with our listeners, cathedral/church window candy came up.  Both us were completely lost. Neither of us had ever heard of it before until a listener named Joel Wilkerson mentioned it.

Then, as promised, Joel came through for us.  First, he sent us an incredibly sweet letter.  He wrote:

I really enjoy your show. It never fails to be hilarious. You could have been another Laurel and Hardy. At least another Burns and Allen. Happy Holidays!

In addition to his incredibly kind words, Joel sent along an even sweeter sentiment. He sent us his favorite recipe for Cathedral Window Holiday Bars.

Chad Benefield/WBKR
Chad Benefield/WBKR
loading...
Get our free mobile app

In his letter to us, Joel said we could keep the recipe. In his words, "I have not made these in years and won't be apt to again. There are so many great recipes to choose from."

Well, little did I know . . . Joel's right. Not only are there plenty of other Christmas candy recipes out there, there are many different "cathedral window" recipes too. Who knew?

Here are several recipes I found on YouTube. These recipes are much like Joel's. As you'll see though, some folks call them bars.  Others call them cookies.  The constant is the fact that they all look like stained glass church windows when they're finished.

Here's a quick one-minute tutorial.

This video is a little more in depth, but the end result is essentially the same.

So is this one.

Now, as delicious as these cathedral/church candy recipes look, I also found something online that doesn't look quite as appetizing. Apparently, there are some other "desserts" (and I am using that term loosely) that have the same theme and look.

Here's a prime example.  What exactly is this and why would anyone eat it?

Unfortunately, there's more where that came from.

Look!  I appreciate the creativity here and I don't mind looking at it. But there's ZERO chance something that looks like that or this is going in my mouth.

I am totally down with making and trying the cathedral window cookies, but I am going full Ebenezer Scrooge and Grinch when it comes to that jelly dessert.  I can't.  Sorry. Just can't.

 

LOOK: Holiday gift crazes and fads of the past century

Stacker compiled a list of toy crazes from the past 100 years. 

More From WBKR-FM