Gourmet Cookie Bouquets Recipe Blog

If you are craving a sugar cookie shaped like a ninja, there’s a cookie cutter out there for you.  Today’s incredible selection ensures that virtually every taste will be satisfied.  Leaves, Pac-Man, 3D nativity, puzzles, snowflakes, chess pieces, Star Wars characters… it goes on and on.  You can even buy a kit and make your own cookie cutter.  There are some shapes, though, that we turn to again and again for parties, gifts, and desserts with the family.  Here is a look at the most popular cookie cutter shapes.

Old Favorites

• The Gingerbread Man.  Other cookie cutters can’t catch this favorite.  While he tends to show up more around Christmas time, this is a popular shape for all year-round.  It is thought that the gingerbread man was the first cookie cutter shape.  In the 17^th Century, Queen Elizabeth I had her bakers create gingerbread biscuits that were replicas of several of her esteemed guests.  Today, we dress them up with icing, piping, and candies.
• Hearts. Another timeless shape is the heart.  Perfect for Valentine’s Day, wedding favors, showers, and more, these can be decorated with couples’ names and important dates.  They are also great for cutting sandwiches, bread, cheese, and other foods to show some love for your family and friends.
• Letters and numbers. These are wonderful because they can be made to suit any occasion.  You can make your kids’ initials, write out “Happy Birthday” in cookies, or bake the alphabet.
• Dog bones. You can whip up a batch of dog biscuits that your pooch will devour or you can make decorated cookies for your favorite dog lover.
• Christmas trees, bells, angels, and snowmen. ‘Tis the season to make cookies!  Christmas cookies give you the perfect opportunity to test your decorating skills with luster dust, sprinkles, sanding sugar, icing, and candies.
• Stars. This is another Christmas favorite, but they can be used year-round.
• Dinosaurs (and animals). What kid can resist dinosaurs?  These incredible beasts make very fun cookies for party favors, school events, and snacks.  Animals that we are more familiar with – dogs, horses, lions, elephants, fish, etc. – are also a popular choice among parents and children.
• 3D options. We have 3D movies and 3D video games; why not 3D treats?  While these fun cookie cutters are not as widely used as their 2D counterparts (yet), their popularity is growing.  You can find different themes, including summer, winter, Christmas, nativity, and animals.  It is a terrific way to create a display for your next party, and it makes a fun project for kids.
• Round. Yes, even with the astonishing variety of cookie cutter shapes available, many people prefer round cutters.  They are ideal for creating perfectly polished round cookies, of course, but bakers depend on them for making professional-looking linzer cookies.  A crisp, clean cut is essential for these delicate beauties. You can also use round cutters for biscuits, donuts, and other baked goods.

We’ve looked at some of the most popular cookie cutter shapes; now let’s turn to the most common and popular materials for those shapes.

• Tin. The first “modern” cookie cutters were created by tinsmiths, and tin remains a popular choice today.  It is a very flexible material, which could be a downside because you can bend the cutters out of shape, but it also allows you to fix and adjust your shapes.  Wash your tin cutters gently by hand and dry immediately so they don’t rust.
• Stainless steel. While just as rust-prone, stainless steel cutters are sturdier and can cut fine details.  Again, wash and dry immediately. If you get rust, sand off with sandpaper.
• Copper. These are the most expensive cutters but many consider them worth the price because they are so durable and can cut fine detail.  A drawback is that it can be difficult to remove dough from the details.
• Plastic. These are inexpensive and durable; there’s no chance of rust, and they’re very low-maintenance.  A drawback is that they have dull edges so you can’t get that crisp detail.

Cookie cutters allow us to turn ordinary cookies into extraordinary little works of art.  Enjoy!

Related Articles

1. How to Make your own Cookie Cutters
2. How to Collect Copper Cookie Cutters
3. Collecting and Displaying Vintage Cookie Cutters

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