Tips for Using Cookie Cutters . . . Works for Me Wednesday

works for me wednesday at we are that family

I've been getting a lot of questions about cookie cutters lately.

So, today we're talkin' cookie cutters...

There are 6 "tricks" I use and they are really simple.

1. Flour the cookie cutter. I keep a little salad plate of flour right by my rolling area and dip my cookie cutter in it between cuts. This keeps the cutter from sticking to the dough and stretching or tearing the shape.

2. Flour the rolling surface, and the rolling pin, and the dough. As you can see from the picture, I flour everything! I think cooking shows have scared us away from flour when rolling cookies. Here's what I do....I sprinkle a liberal amount of flour on the rolling surface and spread it out with my hands. Then, I run my rolling pin over it to coat the pin. Finally, I take a chunk of dough in a ball shape and roll it across the surface. I knead this in to get rid of the super "stickiness" of the fresh dough. This is the recipe I use and it works just fine with a generous dusting of flour.

3. I love using my marble cutting board, but if you don't have one, roll the dough on a sheet of wax or parchment paper. Whether using marble or wax paper, I keep it dusted with flour...even if I have to re-coat it every so often. I find the cut shapes come off the wax paper easier than my counter top.

4. Once all of the shapes are cut from one rolled piece, gently lift off the excess and put it back in the bowl. Now, the cut shapes will lift easily to the cookie sheet and the excess dough can be re-rolled.

5. To re-roll dough, knead it into the fresh dough to make it all cohesive. Then, just re-roll as normal.

6. To help the cut-outs from spreading, place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before baking.

If you don't have a cutter in the shape you need, make a template to hand-cut the cookie dough.

And I've gotten a LOT of emails about this week asking where I get my cookie cutters. The truth is, I get them anywhere I see them....the bakery supply store, craft store, grocery store, foodie shops. Here's a short list of places to find great cutters online: