Buying guide for Best cookie cutter sets
There are few treats as tasty as homemade cookies. If you’re making some recipes at home, such as sugar cookies or gingerbread men, you need a high-quality cookie cutter set to cut the cookies into fun shapes.
Cookie cutters are tools with an edge just sharp enough to cut through cookie dough. They’re available in various shapes from circles to animals and designs from simple to holiday themed. Some cookie cutters also imprint fine details on the dough. You can also use some cookie cutters to cut tea sandwiches and small pastries.
Key considerations
Type
Cookie cutter sets are available with a few different types of cutters, and the one for you will depend on the kind of cookies you want to make. The following are the most common options.
Cutout cookies use the commonest and simplest type of cookie cutter. These can have all sorts of shapes like circles, leaves, animals, or stars. You press the cutter into the dough to shape the cookies.
Stamped cookies are another common type, but these cutters create cookies with more detail. The cutter cuts the dough in a general shape like a circle, but the surface of the closed top of the cutter has an embossed design that gets imprinted into the dough for more intricately designed cookies.
3D cookies typically require a set of two or more cutters. You cut the cookie dough into individual shapes and then assemble each cookie to create things like a tree that can stand up or a dog with legs.
Molds for cookies work in a similar way to a muffin tin. You press the cookie dough into the mold, and the mold imprints the cookies with designs. Some of these can be quite ornate.
Material
Cookie cutter sets are made from several different materials, each of which performs a little differently.
Metal cookie cutters are one of the most common and popular options. Aluminum cutters are inexpensive and rust resistant, but they’re somewhat thin and bend fairly easily. Stainless steel cutters are sturdier and more durable. Tin cookie cutters should be avoided because they rust and bend very easily.
Plastic cookie cutters are also extremely common. They’re very affordable and durable. Their edges are sharp enough to cut through dough but won’t hurt kids’ delicate hands if they’re helping you make the cookies.
Silicone cookie cutters are highly durable and easy to clean and store.
Wood cookie stamps are highly durable, but they can be challenging to clean and are prone to moisture damage.
Expert TIP
If you’re using tin or other metal cutters, wash and dry them well. Then, to eliminate residual droplets of water in the seams and edges, pop them in a warm fry pan on the stove for 3-5 minutes. This evaporates any small bits of water left behind, but be careful. The cutters can get hot.
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Features
Quantity
Cookie cutter sets contain multiple cutters in various shapes and/or sizes. Sets typically include at least 3 or 4 cutters, but you can find some with as many as 100. Unless you’re an avid cookie baker, you probably don’t need a set with more than 10 or 12 cutters. However, if you’re baking with kids, they often enjoy having plenty of shapes to choose from.
Shapes and themes
The most exciting part of looking for cookie cutters is choosing the shapes or themes.
You can find cookie cutters in a wide array of general shapes like circles, squares, diamonds, flowers, stars, and butterflies. You can also find sets that include all dinosaurs or all farm animals, for example.
Holiday-themed sets are some of the most popular cookie cutters. These include Christmas, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day, but you can also find Easter cutters, as well as flags and patriotic shapes that work well for the Fourth of July. You’ll also find lots of fun pop culture themes like Stars Wars or favorite comic book heroes.
Size
Cookie cutter sets can include cutters that are all the same size or various sizes. Small cutters are usually used to make cookies for decorating other desserts, while medium and large cutters are more common. Choosing cookie cutter sizes is a matter of personal preference. Select a cookie cutter set with cutters that match the size of the cookies you want to make. A set with a mix of small, medium, and large cutters is the most versatile.
Expert tip
Cutters with sharper edges can also be used to cut shapes for decor out of orange peel, vegetable slices, fruit, and more. Experiment and get creative.
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Convenience
Nonstick: To prevent your dough from getting stuck in the cookie cutters, look for a set of nonstick cutters. If your cutters aren’t nonstick, tap the cutting edge in flour, corn starch, or powdered sugar before pressing them into the dough or you might have trouble getting the cookies out of the cutters.
Handle: Most cookie cutters don’t have a handle, but you can find some sets with professional-grade cutters that have handles. This makes the cutters easier to use because you can press them into the dough without having to touch it.
Care: Cleanup is much easier if you opt for a set of dishwasher-safe cookie cutters. Small bits of dough can get caught in the cutters, particularly very intricate or detailed ones. You’ll need to scrub them carefully if you’re washing the cutters by hand.
Expert TIP
Stiffer cookie dough recipes (low butter, low liquid) tend to hold shapes better.
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Accessories
Experienced bakers may have quite a few baking tools on hand, but if you're just starting to bake, there are a few tools and supplies you'll probably want to add to your kitchen:
Cookie press: If you sometimes prefer a simpler approach to shaping cookies, a cookie press is the perfect complement to your cookie cutter set.
Baking sheet set: Once you cut your cookies, you need to put them on high-quality baking sheets to bake them.
Mixing bowl set: A good set of mixing bowls is an indispensable staple in the kitchen.
Parchment paper: Often used to line baking sheets to prevent cookies from sticking and for easy cleanup.
Cookie cutter set prices
Cookie cutter sets vary in price based on material, type, quantity, and size of the cutters. Most sets cost between $6 and $68.
Inexpensive
The most affordable cookie cutter sets contain four to ten plastic or aluminum cutters in medium to large sizes. Most of these sets are dishwasher safe for easy cleanup. You can also find some sets with small stainless steel cutters in this price range. You’ll generally pay between $6 and $15 for these sets.
Mid-range
These cookie cutter sets contain ten or more plastic or aluminum cutters that are medium to large in size. You can also find sets with four to ten stainless steel cutters in this price range. Most sets are dishwasher safe too. You’ll generally pay between $15 and $30 for these sets.
Expensive
The most expensive cookie cutter sets contain ten or more medium to large stainless steel cutters. You can also find some sets with novelty or pop culture shapes or themes in this price range. You’ll typically pay between $30 and $68 for these sets.
Tips
- Chill the dough first. You will get better results with your cookie cutters if the dough is rolled flat between two sheets of wax paper or parchment and chilled with its paper. Then, remove the dough from the fridge and peel the paper off before you cut it. If it warms up and becomes sticky, re-chill it and try again.
- Roll dough to a uniform thickness. It’s important to roll the cookie dough to a uniform thickness so all the cookies bake evenly. Roll the dough from the center to the edges. To make it easier, look for a rolling pin that has a disk on each end to control the thickness, or you can get the disks separately and add them to a rolling pin you already have.
- Cut out the cookies as close together as you can. This makes the most of the dough you’ve rolled out and prevents you from having to reroll the dough too many times.
- Keep the scraps of dough. Once you’ve cut all the cookies from a portion of the dough, gather up the scraps and add them to the dough in the fridge. This helps you make as many cookies as possible out of the recipe.
FAQ
Q. Do I need to flour or grease cookie cutters before using them?
A. It depends on the type of cookie dough you’re working with, but it’s generally a good idea to dip your cookie cutters in flour, corn starch, or powdered sugar before pressing them into the dough. That’s particularly important if you’re using very detailed cookie stamps, which have lots of nooks and crannies. Some bakers prefer to use a nonstick cooking spray to grease the cutters to make sure none of the dough sticks.
Q. How should I store cookie cutters?
A. Cookie cutters can be difficult to store because they’re oddly shaped and can’t be stacked. It’s important to take some care when storing them because you don’t want to bend or damage them. Shoving them in a drawer is usually a bad idea.
Instead, try storing them in clear plastic bins or a cookie jar. Plastic containers work well because you can label them with the theme or shape of the cutters inside. You can also hang cookie cutters from pegboard if you have space on a wall.
Q. How do I get the clearest details from my cookie cutters?
A. If you want extremely clear details, opt for metal cookie cutters, which tend to have sharper edges than plastic cutters. It’s also essential that you flour or grease the cutters to make sure the dough doesn’t stick and ruin the outline and details. Also, the firmer the cookie dough, the more likely it is to hold a shape during baking.
