Separate colors of the hard candy.
Put each color of candy in a freezer bag and crush with a wooden mallet.
In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
Beat in eggs and vanilla.
In another bowl sift together flour and baking powder.
Gradually stir flour mixture into wet ingredients until dough is very stiff.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill about 3 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
Additional flour can be added if necessary.
Cut out cookies using a large Christmas cookie cutter.
Transfer cookies to a foil-lined baking sheet.
Using a small Christmas cookie cutter of the same shape as the large one, cut out and remove dough from center of each cookie.
Other shapes can be used to cut out center to make different designs; i. small circles and stars can be cut out to mimic ornaments on a large cookie tree.
Fill cut-out sections with crushed candy.
If using cookies as hanging ornaments, make holes at the top for string.
Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and the candy is melted.
Slide the foil off the baking sheets.
When cool, carefully loosen the cookies from the foil.
If desired, decorate further with frosting and candies.
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies. ** Dallas Morning News -- Neighborhood Shopper -- 11 Dec 96 ** Scanned and formatted for you by The WEE Scot -- paul macGregor