Cookie Cutters

A Cookie Cutter is a tool used to "rolled cookies" in decorative shapes out of a rolled-out cookie dough.

They mostly emerge in households at Christmas, bright with promise. Still, there is many a slip between the lovely shape of many of the intricate Cookie Cutters now available, and what actually comes out of the oven.

Cookie Cutters can be made of metal or plastic. The metal can be tin-plate (steel coated with tin) or copper. Metal ones can be easier to work with, as they have a sharper edge that requires less pressing to cut through dough. If Cookie Cutters don't have nice, sharp edges, you may have to wiggle the cookies a bit to get them out, which can distort the shape. Plastic ones, though, are often designed to leave a more interesting impression on top.

You can buy Cookie Cutters in sets, or singly. Perhaps the most well known shape is for gingerbread men.

Oftentimes the price tag or UPC label sticker won't come off from new Cookie Cutters. Rub the sticker with peanut butter or oil, and let stand overnight.

Always dry metal ones thoroughly before putting away. Tin-plate can rust if exposed to moisture; store it in sealed plastic bags (which also has the advantage of keeping them altogether.) Don't soak metal ones in water.

Cookie Cutters can also be used for sandwiches, or by kids to trace shapes on paper. If you have large metal ones with a handle that doesn't interfere, you can place them on a hot griddle and pour pancake batter into them to make specially-shaped pancakes.

Have cookie dough well-chilled before using Cookie Cutters on them -- at least two hours in the fridge. Some say roll the dough out first, then chill it, then cut it.

Roll the dough out evenly, to allow for better baking.

Before each cut, dip the cutter in flour, white sugar or vegetable oil.

Bake similar shapes together if possible, as they'll have the same cooking time.

Also called:

Other entries for: Cutters
Angel Food Cake Cutters, Biscuit Cutters, Cookie Cutters, Egg Cutters, Grape Shears, Kitchen Shears, Mushroom Cutters, Pastry Jigger, Pastry Wheels, Rolling Mincer

Other entries for: Cooking Tools
Alambic Stills, Apple Corer, Avocado Slicers, Baking Mats, Baking Stones, Batterie de Cuisine, Biscuit Brake, Blowtorches, Branding Iron, Bread Bins, Bread Machines, Bulb Baster, Butter Muslin, Caja China, Can Openers, Canning Funnels, Cans, Chopsticks, Contact Paper, Cookware, Cooling Racks, Corkscrews, CorningWare, Cuppitiello, Dishwashers, Dough Scrapers, Doughnut Cutters, Egg Cups, Egg Timers, Esky, Fat Separators, Flour Dredgers, Flour Duster, Food Pushers, French Butter Crock, Funnels, Girdle, Graters, Griddles, Heat Diffuser, Ice Pick, Icing Syringe, Kitchen String, Kitchen Tongs, Kneading Gloves, Knives, Measuring Cups, Meat Tenderizer, Melon Baller, Milk Cellar, Non-Electrical Rotisseries, Olive Pitter, Oshibori, Oxo Good Grips, Paraffin, Pastry Brush, Pastry Frame, Pea Sheller, Petites Marmites, Pie Plates, Pie Racks, Pizzelle Iron, Proof Box, Ramekins, Rolling Cookie Cutters, Rolling Pins, Salad Spinner, Salamanders, Salt Pigs, Scales, Spatulas, Steamers, Sugar Cutters, Tassie Cups, Tea Trappings, Thermometers, Tortilla Warmers, Treen, Tupperware, Uchiwa, Waffle Iron, Whisks

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I

• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R

• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• X
• Y
• Z

• Zester -- Citrus
• Zester -- Microplane