Double Duty Cookie Cutters

 

I’m sure, if you have even more than dipped a cautious toe into the exciting world of cookie decorating, you have, at some point, reached that roadblock that so many of us face: “That is so cute, but I don’t have the right cookie cutter.  Blah.”

If you have unlimited funding and storage space, and you can amass a cookie cutter collection that would make the cookie-mongers of the world jealous, that’s great.  I’m just so proud of you.

If you, like me, have limited resources, and your space seems to be entirely taken up by diapers and kids’ clothes (Will he still be able to wear these 3T shorts next year?), then I have a few suggestions to help you out. 

When I was in elementary and high school, my best friend, Kylle, and I, used to play this game called . . . well, to be honest, I don’t think it really even had a name.  Basically, one person would scribble a shape on a piece of paper, and the other person had to draw that meaningless squiggle into something recognizable.  Then we would switch places and do it again.  Hey . . . we were in middle school.  But that game was lots of fun, for me– and I find that re-using cookie cutters uses a lot of those same skills.  You have to learn to see the shapes in a new light– to see possibilities in every nook and cranny.  It’s a bit like cloud gazing too– is that a unicorn or a blob of ice cream?  The possibilities are endless.

What are we waiting for?  Let’s do this!

Here are a few basic cutters.  Let’s work some magic.
This is a balloon.  Upside down, it becomes a money bag.  Or perhaps you could repurpose it as a bag of leaves for a fall cookie set.  Do a burlap finish, pipe “leaves” on it, and you’re good to go.
Turn it again, and you have a wonderful little fishy shape.  Need Jonah and the whale cookies for Bible school?  No worries!  You can make adorable little whales with your balloon cutter.
On that note . . . when I buy a cutter, if there are several different varieties of it (such as cupcake cutters and candy corn cutters), I end up choosing the one that I think has the most possibility for reuse.  If you can reuse your cutters, you save time, money, and storage space!  🙂
This cupcake is great.  Lop off the top for a loaf of bread, or even a cloud. Turn it upside down and cut in half, and you have a Pilgrim hat.
Ah, the beautiful baby onesie cutter.  No collection should be without this cutter, in my humble opinion.  It has so many possibilities.
If you cut it here, you have a nice swimsuit bottom.  The top is a perfect T shirt.  Remember those Hawaiian shirts?  Yep– sized down Onesie cutter.
Cute little acorn . . .
Look at that adorable little hat!  How about some plaid striping and a bunch of golf themed cookies?
If you’re feeling really adventurous, you can combine cutters.  This is a tulip and a mini heart cutter.  I need a wedding dress shape, and since I don’t have a gown cutter (and don’t want to buy one, since they are enormous and take up tons of space), I will try this.  Basically, you roll your dough out on the silpat, and create whatever shape you want (you can cut with a butter knife also, or very gently with a pizza cutter for basic shapes, but no sharp knives on silpat).
Peel your scraps very carefully away from your shape.  Sorry for the floury fingers.
You have to be extra careful peeling these shapes, because they are all divided in the center.  They will grow together and fuse during baking, but for this part, peel gently.  The other wedding dress I tried out, there, is made from a candy corn cutter (You knew candy went from lips to hips!  Haha!), and the top from a mini butterfly cutter.
When you have finished carefully peeling your shapes, gently “squish” the lines together.  Just gently press them together with your finger so that they kind of form a solid.  This was also where I smooshed the waist together a bit, to make my bride look all svelte and thin.  You just took ten pounds off her hips. I think you just became her new best friend.
Bake as normal.  Your icing will cover these “fault lines.”  And I didn’t even have to buy an unnecessary cutter!  What shapes will you make?
Next post I’ll show you how to ice these lovely gowns.
You did it!  And I’m just so proud of you!

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  1. Pingback: Beautiful Wedding Cookies – Cookies for England

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